KEY POINTS:
As George W. 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 United States 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 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 carried 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. Obama's radio speech bore all the hallmarks of a presidential address.
He warned the nation was in a crisis of historic proportions and called for unity. He called the economic crisis "the most serious challenges 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." He cast America's economic woes in a grim light. "Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their homes."
Simple figures bear that out, especially after new figures on Saturday showed the economy lost 240,000 jobs in October. That was the 10th successive month of losses, and the US has shed 1.2 million jobs so far this year.
The tone of Obama's words provided a contrast with Bush. Though Bush repeated a vow to help establish a smooth transition, he also addressed the issue of foreign policy, using a familiar line about the threat from Islamic extremists.
"This will also be America's first wartime presidential transition in four decades. We're in a struggle against violent extremists determined to attack us - and they would like nothing more than to exploit this period of change to harm the American people."
Such warnings have long been a hallmark of his speeches; they are a lot less likely to figure in Obama's. In the election, terrorism and even the war in Iraq were far behind the economy in terms of voter concerns. Despite fighting in two foreign conflicts, it was the tough domestic conditions that decided the election.
That economic slowdown has some predicting an Obama Administration will scale back many campaign promises. But Obama, signalling again that it is he who matters now, not Bush, seemed to suggest he would press ahead with his plans. He said America "can't afford to wait" on taking action on issues such as clean energy, reforming health care, improving education and tax relief.
But at the same time he said the challenges were huge: "I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead ... Some of those choices will be difficult, but America is a strong and resilient country. I know we will succeed if we put aside partisanship and work together as one nation."
One element of that co-operation has already seemed to come from Bush. The President, First Lady Laura Bush and Obama and his wife, Michelle, will meet tomorrow for an introduction to the White House. Bush sounded gracious in extending the offer.
But given that Bush leaves office with an economy in crisis, two foreign wars, a vast budget deficit and some of the lowest popularity ratings in history, a cynical observer might find it hard to tell if that was a blessing or a curse.
- OBSERVER
