Hmmm? The Office of the President-Elect?!?!?!?!?

[Jeemie]

I freely admit that I'm biased against Obama, but I'm sorry- this is a little pretentious.

Maybe other Presidents-Elect have called themselves an "office"...but not that I'm aware of.

PS I LOVE Emmanuel's pose there. That guy is a shark- Obama better look out for himself with that dude!

[silverscreenselect]

I freely admit that I'm biased against Obama, but I'm sorry- this is a little pretentious.

Maybe other Presidents-Elect have called themselves an "office"...but not that I'm aware of.

PS I LOVE Emmanuel's pose there. That guy is a shark- Obama better look out for himself with that dude!

I'm just wondering when the Obama seal will return. Or perhaps, he'll have the Chief Justice put a crown on him instead of merely administering the oath on Inauguration Day.

As for Rahm Emanuel.... he's no friend to Republicans and he's no friend to Progressive/Liberals. The only question is which of them Obama sics him on first.

[Jeemie]

I freely admit that I'm biased against Obama, but I'm sorry- this is a little pretentious.

Maybe other Presidents-Elect have called themselves an "office"...but not that I'm aware of.

PS I LOVE Emmanuel's pose there. That guy is a shark- Obama better look out for himself with that dude!

I'm just wondering when the Obama seal will return. Or perhaps, he'll have the Chief Justice put a crown on him instead of merely administering the oath on Inauguration Day.

As for Rahm Emanuel.... he's no friend to Republicans and he's no friend to Progressive/Liberals. The only question is which of them Obama sics him on first.

Speaking of Chief Justices...I'm equal opportunity.

I always thought Rehnquist's chevrons were pretentious too!

PS Who will get Emmanuel's first dead fish delivery?

[silverscreenselect]

The Office of the President Elect announced today that as of January 20, Hail to the Chief will no longer be played when the President enters the room. Instead, there will be the following new Presidential theme:

We love you Obama
Oh yes we do
We love you Obama
And will be true!
When you're not near us
We're blue!
Obama, we love you.

[ne1410s]

S cubed:

Or perhaps, he'll have the Chief Justice put a crown on him ...

Didn't that turd, Ashcroft, annoint himself before taking the oath of office? I'd rather see a crown.

[danielh41]

Officially, he's not even the President-Elect yet. He won't be until December 15th when the electoral college votes. So how could there be an "Office of the President-Elect?"

[bazodee]

Actually, he's not President-elect until the electoral votes are unsealed, read and tallied before the joint session of Congress.

I agree that "Office of the President-elect" sounds a little odd, but isn't this just semantics? There is a budget line item for transitional costs for the new administration; there has always been an office and staff (often in the EOB). Don't you guys remember this from Season 7 of West Wing?

[Jeemie]

Actually, he's not President-elect until the electoral votes are unsealed, read and tallied before the joint session of Congress.

I agree that "Office of the President-elect" sounds a little odd, but isn't this just semantics? There is a budget line item for transitional costs for the new administration; there has always been an office and staff (often in the EOB). Don't you guys remember this from Season 7 of West Wing?

I am aware of this- but no President-Elect that I can recall ever displayed the tokens of such an office...and that's what I find pretentious.

It is especially jarring with Obama trying to remind everyone that Bush is still the President.

[peacock2121]

S cubed:

Or perhaps, he'll have the Chief Justice put a crown on him ...

Didn't that turd, Ashcroft, annoint himself before taking the oath of office? I'd rather see a crown.

I asked Sting if he ever recalled seeing "The Office of the President-Elect" before. He said no. I asked if he thought it was pretentious. He said no. Then he said "You want pretentious, what about Rehnquist and his gold stripes."

Made me laugh that you thought a similar thought.

[WheresFanny]

What somebody finds pretentious will often tell more about that person than what/who they are calling out.

Being a mostly disinterested bystander, here are my thoughts:

When I saw Obama speaking last night on the news, I really didn't give it any thought at all. Which, I guess, kind of states my opinion. However, upon reading this thread and pondering what my thought would be had I had one.....ha!

1. It's possible the lackeys (whatever the equivalent of set decorators are) had the sign made and put on the podium and he didn't even know about it. Or saw it and didn't really give it any thought, because he kind of has other shit on my mind right now.

2. Maybe it's actually the opposite. Charlie Gibson and a couple other people mentioned how Obama is taking pains to not step on the toes of the current Administration and has pointed out several times that he is not the President, and he won't be until 1/20. But, with everybody clamouring for him to do something nownownow, or at least say what his plans are, he's kind of in between the shit and the stink on this one.

3. So in pictures or video, the sign on the podium makes it clear that, at the time he was speaking, he was not speaking as President, because he wasn't yet President and did not want people to get the wrong impression (like in other countries or ones out of loop in this one).

4. I don't think someone as pretentious as all that would make the mutt joke.

[Appa23]

Actually, he's not President-elect until the electoral votes are unsealed, read and tallied before the joint session of Congress.

I agree that "Office of the President-elect" sounds a little odd, but isn't this just semantics? There is a budget line item for transitional costs for the new administration; there has always been an office and staff (often in the EOB). Don't you guys remember this from Season 7 of West Wing?

Obama also is the first to have a ".gov" website as President-elect, which he apparently is primarily using to collect info for further fundraising efforts, according to one news source that I read.

There is no question that Obama is well aware of these efforts, and it was not just some "lackey". However, as this is just a logical follow-on to the "Obama Seal", "Obama Force One", and the rest from his campaign, which apparently was not disliked by most voters and nearly all of the media, you can not think that it is a story at this point.

Lets let Obama get ready to do his thing, and see if he can solve all of the perceived problems. He only has until the mid-term elections to turn things around, at the latest, before the media and people sour on him. Governing when you control all of the power can be a real tightrope act, especially when you are elected with "irrational exuberance".

[Appa23]

4. I don't think someone as pretentious as all that would make the mutt joke.

What about taking a swipe at an ailing widow of one of the more popular and respected Presidents in history? Can that be viewed as pretentious?

(What was the mutt joke?)

[hermillion]

Just FYI, I have a framed document from the "Office of the President-Elect", acknowledging my service on the Reagan Transition Team. The date reads "November-January 1980-1981", and the signature is by "President-Elect" Ronald Reagan.

Any chance people can stop looking for nits to pick? President-Elect Obama has tradition behind him.

[Jeemie]

Just FYI, I have a framed document from the "Office of the President-Elect", acknowledging my service on the Reagan Transition Team. The date reads "November-January 1980-1981", and the signature is by "President-Elect" Ronald Reagan.

Any chance people can stop looking for nits to pick? President-Elect Obama has tradition behind him.

All I said was that it rubbed me the wrong way.

Had Obama not had that seal on the podium back in August when he spoke after clinching the nomination, I probably would have let it slide.

And a framed internal memo to a staffer is not the same as publicly displaying the tokens of the office.

[etaoin22]

If you dont eat your meat, you cant have any pudding.

It seems one does not get the extreme organizedness without the pretentiousness.

I am impressed by the organizedness part. His stock with me has gone up several hundred points since Wednesday. (I cant imagine accomplishing something like so prolonged an election campaign without needing to space out completely for at least a week, and it has happened more than once in politics and elsewhere, the "OK we won, now what do we do" (see Prime Minister Paul Martin, Canada) syndrome).

One of the false expectations after victory is that all will say yes to one's requests, just because you are a winner. Another prexy-to-be might well have asked Rahm Emanuel, and gotten the response "You've got to be kidding -- I have kids -- I am settled in Congress -- chiefs-of-staff have a career expectancy and future of NFL running backs"; Obama got the "yes".

[gotribego26]

I didn't vote for the guy - and I'm not fond of his economic plans and some of his advisors.

But after watching the Cluster-**** of the last 8 years where it seemed that everything was a reaction it is a pleasure to see an organization that apepars to have it all together.

The guy has run as seamless a campaign as I can recall and seems to have things in place for as smooth a transition as possible.

I keep waiting for someone to expose the Man behind the curtain, but he continues to handle everything thrown his way.

Of course none of it has been close to the mess that Wall Street and the smart guys that leveraged us to the hilt in everyway have created.

[minimetoo26]

It's better than "That One". "You Know, the Guy That Won" might work...

[nitrah55]

If they had been thinking, they would have put a sign on the podium that read, "Your ad here."

[peacock2121]

It shoulda said:

THE ONE

[SportsFan68]

I think that President-Elect Obama is handling this the best he can.

Some of the folkses who voted for him did think he would take office the next day. Many more of us wanted him to even though we knew better.

He's keeping hope alive until Jan. 21.

What I can't figure out is why Plouffe wasn't offered the Chief of Staff slot. Must be something else in mind for him. Or maybe he did get the offer. Or do campaign managers generally fade into oblivion. I dunno.

[nitrah55]

4. I don't think someone as pretentious as all that would make the mutt joke.

What about taking a swipe at an ailing widow of one of the more popular and respected Presidents in history? Can that be viewed as pretentious?

(What was the mutt joke?)

He called Nancy Reagan and apologized for the lame attempt at humor.

The mutt joke: When he was answering a question about what kind of dog they were going to get, he explained that one of his daughters has allergies, which would argue in favor a of purebread, hypoallergenic dog, but, on the other hand (you can tell he's a lawyer) they think the responsible thing to do would be to get a dog from an animal shelter, but dogs from shelters tend not to be hypoalleginic, but (quoting here) "mutts like me."

William Kristol described this as a "dry and slightly politically incorrect joke" which Obama made at his own expense, referring, presumably, to his multi-racial heritage.

[Appa23]

4. I don't think someone as pretentious as all that would make the mutt joke.

What about taking a swipe at an ailing widow of one of the more popular and respected Presidents in history? Can that be viewed as pretentious?

(What was the mutt joke?)

He called Nancy Reagan and apologized for the lame attempt at humor.

The mutt joke: When he was answering a question about what kind of dog they were going to get, he explained that one of his daughters has allergies, which would argue in favor a of purebread, hypoallergenic dog, but, on the other hand (you can tell he's a lawyer) they think the responsible thing to do would be to get a dog from an animal shelter, but dogs from shelters tend not to be hypoalleginic, but (quoting here) "mutts like me."

William Kristol described this as a "dry and slightly politically incorrect joke" which Obama made at his own expense, referring, presumably, to his multi-racial heritage.

I had Googled the "mutt" thing after my post. Now, that was a lame joke!

The Nancy Reagan thing went beyond just a "lame attempt at a joke." For someone that everyone bills as being so smart, so visionary, so in tune with everyone's cares, this was a partisan swipe, IMO. If it was just a "spur of the moment", lame joke, he would have apologized immediately, realizing that his mouth got ahead of his brain. He didn't. It was not until he was getting bad press that he apologized.

Now, let's move on.

[peacock2121]

What about taking a swipe at an ailing widow of one of the more popular and respected Presidents in history? Can that be viewed as pretentious?

(What was the mutt joke?)

He called Nancy Reagan and apologized for the lame attempt at humor.

The mutt joke: When he was answering a question about what kind of dog they were going to get, he explained that one of his daughters has allergies, which would argue in favor a of purebread, hypoallergenic dog, but, on the other hand (you can tell he's a lawyer) they think the responsible thing to do would be to get a dog from an animal shelter, but dogs from shelters tend not to be hypoalleginic, but (quoting here) "mutts like me."

William Kristol described this as a "dry and slightly politically incorrect joke" which Obama made at his own expense, referring, presumably, to his multi-racial heritage.

I had Googled the "mutt" thing after my post. Now, that was a lame joke!

The Nancy Reagan thing went beyond just a "lame attempt at a joke." For someone that everyone bills as being so smart, so visionary, so in tune with everyone's cares, this was a partisan swipe, IMO. If it was just a "spur of the moment", lame joke, he would have apologized immediately, realizing that his mouth got ahead of his brain. He didn't. It was not until he was getting bad press that he apologized.

Now, let's move on.

If we could only have done that before your post, that woulda been great.

[minimetoo26]

There's an article in Us magazine about First Families and dealing with the White House, and the two mentions of Nancy referenced the expensive china and the psychics. And this was printed before the election results were in.

I guess it's in the forefront of some people's minds. I wouldn't have remembered it, but maybe the guy picked up a magazine with his and his wife's picture on the cover. Who knows?

[ghostjmf]

Someone needs to get the message to the Obama People that Lhasa Apsos are not only hypoallergenic because they "have hair, not fur" (I don't really know if that's true from a biology standpoint but I know my allergic sister is not allergic to them, which is why she got one) but that they are most excellent pet dogs. A decent yard is a must, but I hear the Obamas will have one soon. (Not to knock their house in Chicago, which I have not seen picures of, but Just Saying.) Lhasas do like to get all their "sheep" in a line & herd them, though. Dunno that Obama himself is the herdable type. Which is good, in general. Maybe he'd relax for a fluffy puppy of a breed that is as smart as they are cute.