The elusive Team Obama...transition has looked deliberate and impressive

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/11/11/obama_cabinet/


The elusive Team Obama

It's proving difficult to peer inside Obama's still tightly closed Cabinet. But so far his presidential transition has looked deliberate and impressive.

By Walter Shapiro


President-elect Barack Obama (center) during his first press conference, in Chicago, following his election victory, Nov. 7, 2008.


Nov. 11, 2008 | Amid the fervid speculation over the identity of the next secretary of state or even the next assistant secretary of labor for administration and management, there is a truth that is galling to gossip-mongers -- Barack Obama and his closest advisors know how to keep secrets. With nearly 10 percent of the transition period between administrations already gone, we know more about the factors that will dictate the selection of the White House puppy than we do about the reasoning behind the choice of a would-be Treasury secretary.

As Valerie Jarrett, co-chair of Obama's transition team, put it with deliberate blandness on "Meet the Press" Sunday: "I think one of the real strengths of Sen. Obama's campaign and now President-elect Obama's transition is that he really does like to think this through thoroughly and not telecast what he's going to do until he's ready to make a decision."

No one wants to read articles titled "Entire Obama Administration Shrouded in Mist and Mystery." So to accentuate the positive, we do have a pretty reliable handle as to who will be in the room with Obama (and presumably Joe Biden) when the major personnel decisions are made. There will be Jarrett, an African-American Chicago real estate entrepreneur who has been close friends to the president-elect and the incoming first lady for two decades; Pete Rouse, the press-shy former chief of staff for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who performed the same role for a newly elected Illinois senator named Obama; the Chicago-born John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former White House chief of staff, who stealthily organized the Obama transition during the fall campaign from his Washington perch at the Center for American Progress; David Axelrod, the Chicago-based political strategist, who was the inspiration behind both Obama's up-from-nowhere 2004 Senate victory and his 2008 run for the Rose Garden; and incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, a sharp-elbowed veteran of the Clinton White House who was elected to Congress in 2002 (from Chicago, natch) with the help of Axelrod (double natch).

snip//

A presidential transition is a time of hope and heartbreak as the incoming president's team allocates the ultimate prize in politics: high-prestige jobs that will burnish a résumé for a lifetime. Obama's first week has been impressive, with hints of months of careful planning behind the scenes, as opposed to the make-it-up-as-we-go-along improvisation famously carried out by Bill Clinton. Transition is a grueling test for any incoming president, who after the rigors of a long campaign deserves a few weeks on a beach with his family. But with Wall Street in turmoil and America bogged down in two wars, these 10 remaining weeks until Inauguration will soon be recalled as the relaxing good old days for Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States.

[Bicoastal]

1. Bothers me--not a lot, but it bothers me.

I want Obama's adminstration to be less secretive and more transparent than the Bush years.

I'm not worried to the point of asking you to talk me down, but still...

[babylonsister]

2. It will be after January 20th, I promise. Even before.

Think about what the guy's already done; he hasn't been Prez-elect for a week yet.

It will be fine, we're in good hands. :)

[bemildred]

3. I think the idea of politicians who can an do keep their mouths shut is kind of nice.

Speak only for attribution could be an excellent rule.

[babylonsister]

4. I think it's delicious! Keep everyone guessing while figuring out

what will work. Dare I say, 'studious'?

[bemildred]

7. Our friends in the media are not used to politicians who are focused on

the governing aspect of politics instead of the show-biz part of it.

[Fearless]

5. Thanks for pointing out that Obama was in the center... I was confused...

:+

[shellgame26]

6. That Obama will capitalize

on some of the precedents set by his predecessor is sweet irony. Let him aggressively promote a liberal agenda!