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Journalism of Courage
If Barack Obama wakes up as the president-elect on November 5, he will immediately assume responsibility for fixing a shredded economy while the Bush administration is still in office. If John McCain wins the election, he will face an imminent confrontation over spending with a Democratic Congress called back into special session with the goal of passing a new economic stimulus package.
Either way, the 77-day period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, traditionally known simply as the transition, is sure to present difficult challenges to a new president buffeted by intense forces, political and economic, without any time to recover from the bruising campaign.
The challenge of putting the country back on a sound financial track has altered what under the best of circumstances would have been a frenzied period spent forming a new government. Instead, Obama or McCain will be forced to assemble a new administration even as he helps shape policies to ward off further declines in the economy.
And whoever is the new president will be under intense pressure from his own allies to live up to his campaign promises. Antiwar groups would press Obama to start the process of ending the war in Iraq, and conservatives would demand tax cuts from McCain. Either side would want to know that its candidate has an agenda to enact on his first day in the White House. With the outcome of the election still in doubt, neither campaign is eager to discuss plans for that day or the transition that precedes it, other than to acknowledge the urgent circumstances the 44th president will confront.
McCain has tapped John F Lehman, a close friend who was a Navy secretary in the Reagan administration, to lead the transition. Former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta is running Obama’s effort.
Neither would be interviewed for this article, but advisers to both campaigns say they are aware of the problems that can arise if careful thought is not given to how to handle those first days and weeks. Those involved in planning a possible McCain transition say he is genuinely interested in bipartisan governing and would immediately reach out to the opposition. But his interest in working with the other party may run afoul of the likely rage many Democrats will feel if the White House slips from their grasp in the final weeks of the 2008 campaign.
“If they lose this one, you are going to have a lot of really angry Democrats,” said Rep. Paul D Ryan, a McCain ally and the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee.
Obama would have to try to influence economic policy while it is still the province of President Bush, whose policies could have lasting effects on an Obama presidency that was supposed to emphasise “change” and “hope”. “He’s going to be deferential to an outgoing president, but also not shy about expressing himself,” said a senior Democrat involved in transition talks.
Obama would also have to take steps aimed at fulfilling his promise to bring US troops home from Iraq. To ensure continuity at the Pentagon, he may try to persuade Defense Secretary Robert Gates to stay in order to begin designing a plan that establishes the time frame for withdrawal.
How Obama would manage the phase between his election and inauguration could set the tone for his presidency. And in the days after being sworn in, Obama would face opportunities and pitfalls on an immense scale.
He could establish the image of a young, history-making president with a mandate from the country and the backing of a friendly Congress. Or he could appear to be an inexperienced new executive, caught between the demands of Republicans he pledged to consult and newly energised liberals who expect him to make good.
