Obama sets about picking his team

The Democrat dodged the limelight after being elected America's first black president but behind-the-scenes activity picked up with the formal creation of a team to handle his transition to power, ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration.

Democrats said Obama had asked combative congressman and former Clinton White House aide, Rahm Emanuel, 48, to be his chief-of-staff, a vital post that will help set the tempo of the administration. Obama has hinted at possible names to take over as treasury secretary.

He told CNN last week that his economic advisers included Clinton's last treasury secretary, Larry Summers, 53, as well as former Federal Reserve chief, Paul Volcker, 81; and mega-rich investor Warren Buffett, 78.

Names floating in the media as possible secretaries of defense include current Pentagon chief, Robert Gates, who Obama has praised, as well as the retiring senator for Nebraska, Chuck Hagel, another Republican. Also seen as being in the running are Richard Danzig, navy secretary under Bill Clinton and an Obama adviser during the campaign, and George W. Bush's former secretary of state, Colin Powell.

Another name mentioned in the media as Obama's economic overseer is Timothy Geithner, 47, who as president of the New York Federal Reserve has been in charge of executing the U.S. Central Bank's sudden explosion of market activity.

While his aides made no announcements of briefings for yesterday, Obama cannot stay silent for long as both Wall Street and voters suffering from the financial crisis look to their next president for reassurance and guidance.

A day after triggering a political earthquake, not seen since Ronald Reagan's 1980 landslide, Obama named key figures in the transitional team that will spend the next 75 days preparing for his inauguration and presidency beyond.

The transitional office in Washington will be run by co-chairs John Podesta, a former chief of staff to Clinton; Pete Rouse, Obama's Senate chief of staff; and the Democrat's close friend, Valerie Jarrett.

Their jobs will be to vet cabinet nominees and prepare the first vital political moves of the new administration.

Bush offered generous praise to his successor and pledged his "complete cooperation" during the transition period. He invited the Obamas to the White House at their earliest convenience.

In another sign of the changing of the guard, Michelle Obama spoke by telephone with First Lady Laura Bush, who offered her own invitation.

CIA director, Mike Hayden, also said the U.S. intelligence agency would begin sharing classified information with Obama.
The incoming president has promised to renew bruised ties with U.S. allies, and to engage some of the nation's fiercest foes such as Iran and North Korea.

He has vowed to tackle climate change, cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans, and guarantee near-universal health care at a time when many thousands are losing their insurance as their jobs disappear.

Many observers think he will have his work cut out for him in honoring these pledges as the ongoing wars need financing and the U.S. economy is in a dire state with all the bailout measures that also need financing.

Top Obama advisers will attend a White House summit convened by Bush on Nov. 15, as 20 world leaders thrash out a response to the worst economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

Meanwhile, the global media yesterday saluted Obama's triumph in the election but stressed that the first black American president will have to work at home and abroad to make his dream come true.

The Obama buzzwords "Yes we can," "change," and "dream" featured extensively in many languages on front pages around the world as commentators of all political beliefs hailed an epic change in U.S. history.

Many sought a fresh start in ties with the world superpower.

The top-selling German daily Bild, splashed the headline "YES, WE CAN be friends!" in a play on Obama's slogan. "We have fallen in love with the new, the different, the good America. ‘Obamerica.’ The new transatlantic embrace is a historic opportunity," it wrote.

"Obama's New America", proclaimed Britain's Guardian newspaper on its front page, while South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo daily thanked America "for courageously choosing the change that is needed in the United States and in the world as a whole."

"Carried into power without an established doctrine, he is now in charge of the American Dream," said France's Le Monde, "open and smiling, preferring calm to drama, reason to excess."

But there were warnings with the praise. In every corner of the world there is a problem waiting to be solved and each newspaper looked to Obama for leadership.

Middle East newspapers predicted there would be no rapid change in the United States toward the region after eight years under the much-criticized Bush.

Egypt's independent Al-Badil newspaper said Obama's presidency would not change the way "Arab affairs" are dealt with as U.S. policy is "preserving Israel's superiority over all its Arab neighbors and (having) oil at an acceptable price."

Lebanon's As-Safir, close to Syrian and Iranian-backed parties, said, "What happened yesterday was beautiful, wonderful and brings hope to America. But what will Obama do to erase the negative image of the United States overseas left by the Bush administration?"

The Financial Times described Obama as a "once in a generation politician" and said his victory was “no fluke” but that he faces enormous challenges with the economic crisis and in keeping Americans behind him.

"He will have to tear into his big policy measures with the utmost urgency," said the Daily Telegraph in London."Can Mr. Obama deliver? Leadership is about judgment, courage and coolness under fire. In this presidential campaign, the 47-year-old senator from Illinois has shown all three," it said.