President-elect Barack Obama stepped to the podium on Friday for his first press conference since winning the election. He smiled as he looked out at a large retinue assembled from around the world and paused for a moment before he exclaimed, “Oh wow”.With that, Obama began the first nationally televised appearance of his new role. “I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead,” Obama said, his voice slow and controlled. “Some of the choices we make are going to be difficult. I have said before and I will repeat again. it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in.”Obama called on Congress and the Bush administration to pass an economic-stimulus package. If an agreement cannot be reached in the congressional session this month, he said, it would be his chief priority when he assumes office on January 20.He said it was an “urgent priority” to extend unemployment insurance benefits for workers who cannot find jobs. He said he would give aid to states, create new jobs and move forward with his tax-cut plans for the middle-class. The session was limited to about 20 minutes, with Obama taking nine questions. He fielded an array of questions, including the kind of dog he would get for his two daughters. He said that he was studying the writings of Abraham Lincoln and that he had spoken to previous presidents. “I’ve spoken to all of them that are living,” he said. “I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances.”A few hours later, Obama was on the phone with Reagan to apologise for the “off-handed remark”. A spokeswoman for Obama said they had a warm conversation.Obama, who stood in front of an array of economic advisors, Joe Biden and Rahm Emanuel, did not specify what he intends to do to curb the economic crisis. But the the press conference, held after a closed-door meeting of his economic advisors, was intended to show that he is hard at work. Obama offered little guidance for how he wanted the Treasury Department to implement the $700 billion Government plan to stabilise the financial markets, saying only that he would review any decisions made by the Bush administration. He suggested that he intended to move ahead with his campaign pledge to take away tax cuts for upper income Americans.Asked how he would respond to the letter of congratulations from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Obama said he would review the letter and respond in an appropriate fashion. He said any nuclear ambitions by Iran were “unacceptable”.Obama seemed at ease. When Lynn Sweet of The Chicago Sun-Times rose to ask a question, Obama askedwhy her arm was in a sling. “I cracked my shoulder running to your speech on election night,” Sweet said. “Oh, no,” Obama said. “I think that was the only major incident during the entire Grant Park celebration.”The Economic Advisory BoardBarack Obama has assembled a Transition Economic Advisory Board, the members of which he met on Friday.• David E Bonior, former US representative• Warren Buffett, chairman & chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway• Roel C Campos, former Democratic member of the Securities and Exchange Commission• William Daley, Commerce secretary under Bill Clinton• William H Donaldson, SEC chairman under President Bush• Roger Ferguson, President and CEO of teachers retirement fund TIAA-CREF• Jennifer M Granholm, Democratic Governor of Michigan• Anne Mulcahy, chairwoman and CEO of Xerox• Richard Parsons, chairman of Time Warner• Penny Pritzker, CEO of Classic Residence by Hyatt• Robert B Reich, Labour secretary under Clinton• Robert E Rubin, Treasury secretary under Clinton• Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google• Lawrence Summers, Treasury secretary under Clinton• Laura D’Andrea Tyson, national economic advisor to Clinton• Antonio Villaraigosa, Democratic mayor of Los Angeles• Paul A Volcker, Fed chairman under Carter and Reagan—Source: Office of the President-elect
