Still weeks to go, but America tunes into Obama as Bush fades from view

[babylonsister]

Still weeks to go, but America tunes into Obama as Bush fades from view
Power drains from the White House and Obama's stature continues to rise as he takes to the airwaves for first radio address

* Paul Harris in New York
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday November 9 2008 00.01 GMT
* The Observer, Sunday November 9 2008



Barack Obama fields a question from a reporter during his first press after winning the presidential election. Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP


As George Bush sits in the Oval Office, perhaps the lamest of all lame ducks, Barack Obama is looking presidential for the press, fielding calls from world leaders and mulling appointments to his new cabinet.

Yesterday, Bush's weekly radio address to the nation was answered directly by the man who will replace him in January. In most weeks the Democrats' response to Bush's musings is given by an up-and-coming politician or someone who highlights a particular issue. But this time Obama himself took to the airwaves.

The moment encapsulated how much power has already drained out of Bush's White House. The world's attention is fixed on Chicago, where Obama is holed up with his advisers. Perhaps the New York Post summed it up the best. Its front-page yesterday was a picture of a stern-faced Obama, flanked by a US flag and fielding a reporter's question. 'Top dog,' blared the headline.

With breathtaking speed Obama has switched from campaigner to President-to-be. The situation is novel in contemporary US politics. In 2000, the Bush-Gore race ended in protracted legal wrangling; the previous handover, from the first President Bush to Bill Clinton in 1992, did not occur amid an economic crisis. This time the mood is clear. America wants its new President fast and Obama, while saying the right things, wants to move just as quickly.

Though he has been eager to defer in public to Bush's status as still being the President, his swift actions have shown he wants to avoid the mistakes made by Clinton, whose transition was notoriously mishandled. The economic crisis gripping the country is also powering the process. Wall Street and Main Street are far more concerned with reading the policy tea leaves in Obama's speeches than Bush's. One offers a guide to what the future President might do, the other only illustrates the actions of a past one.

Obama's radio speech bore all the hallmarks of a presidential address. He warned that the nation was in a crisis of historic proportions and called for unity after a tough, hard-fought election campaign. He called the economic crisis 'the most serious challenge of our lifetime' and urged people of all political opinions to come together. 'Here in America we compete vigorously in elections and challenge each other's ideas, yet come together in service of a common purpose once the voting is done.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/09/barack-obama-white-house-radio