Jesse Jackson explains off-mike remark

INDIANAPOLIS, July 10 (UPI) -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson, fresh from apologizing for a crude remark he made about Barack Obama, says he has a "great passion" for the U.S. senator's campaign.

Jackson, speaking on CBS' "The Early Show," said, "I have a great passion for the campaign and for the redemptive moment it represents."

Jackson earlier in the week criticized Obama, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, for his remarks on faith-based initiatives. He then, apparently thinking his microphone was off, crudely suggested he'd castrate Obama. Jackson later apologized.

Jackson said he made the remark because of his concern about the limitations of faith-based initiative "unless it's really expanded, which I think Barack does, but the media may have less interest in it."

The limited message "must address the structural crisis in urban America," Jackson said from Indianapolis.

Even though he disagrees with some of Obama's speech topics, Jackson said he "unequivocally" supports the likely Democratic Party standard-bearer.

"Let me make it very clear that you need the faith," he said. "I mean, faith is the substance of things hoped for. And so you need the faith but you also need the substance, and that's where if we're going to live with structural equality, that's going to require investment."