David Broder: Obama's Good Start

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Obama's Good Start
By David S. Broder
Thursday, November 13, 2008; A23

So far, so good.

The first week of Barack Obama's transition to the presidency has gone about as well as anyone could imagine. His few public appearances have been gaffe-free, and his initial decisions in setting up his administration have been strongly reassuring.

One area of legitimate questions about the president-elect concerns his ability to organize, direct and motivate his administration. Nothing in his prior life in Illinois or Washington required or tested those skills. His campaign -- a model of efficiency and innovation -- certainly augured well. But there is a world of difference between running for the White House and leading the country -- witness the stumbles of every new president since Ronald Reagan.

What we have seen so far suggests that Obama's skills will carry over to his new and expanded responsibilities. His victory speech in Grant Park, his first news conference and his meeting with President Bush went off almost without a hitch.

He wisely emphasized that all executive authority -- on issues here and abroad -- remains in Bush's hands until Jan. 20, but at the same time he urged the president and Congress to do everything in their power to address the sinking economy.

The new president's first decision -- to name Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff -- was a positive step on two levels.

It is significant that Obama began structuring his White House staff before he turned to the construction of a Cabinet. Bill Clinton did the reverse and paid a high price for it....Clinton's second mistake was giving the chief-of-staff job to Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty, his boyhood friend from Arkansas. McLarty was a novice in Washington and -- by his own declaration -- ill-suited to the job. It took Clinton months to correct the error.

By contrast, Emanuel is a Washington veteran, having served first as a senior legislative-political-press aide to Clinton and, more recently, as a Chicago congressman, a key member of the party's House leadership....

***

Many challenges lie ahead, but the start has been promising.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111202532_pf.html

[Puzzler]

1. The comments section of this article...

... make amusing reading. It`s very revealing that all of the RW whackjobs who are leaving comments are treating Obama as if:

1) he is actually in power, and...

2) has been in power for years.

[FiveGoodMen]

2. Clinton was one week in the White House when the pundits started with, "He hasn't done anything!"