Obama putting together presidential transition team?

posted at 12:56 pm on July 24, 2008 by Allahpundit
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I don’t know. Would a man with his own presidential seal really be that presumptuous?

“Barack is well aware of the complexity and the organizational challenge involved in the transition process and he has tasked s small group to begin thinking through the process,” a senior campaign adviser said. “Barack has made his expectations clear about what he wants from such a process, how he wants it to move forward, and the establishment and execution of his timeline is proceeding apace.”

Last month, the Post’s Chris Cillizza reported that campaign advisers were sounding out John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and currently the president of the Center for American Progress, for his advice.

An aide confirms that Podesta will probably be asked to head the transition team, which would take over from the campaign if Obama wins in November, and would be tasked with ensuring a smooth handover of power.

Finding a hole in the offensive line, Team McCain sweeps through and moves in for the sack:

Before they’ve even crossed the 50-yard line, the Obama campaign is already dancing in the end zone with a new White House transition team. The American people are more concerned with Barack Obama’s poor judgment and readiness to lead than his inaugural ball.

Geraghty supplies the requisite hubristic perspective. A lefty friend with political connections tells me rumor has it Obama sent someone to Iowa to start scouting for a presidential run the day after he was elected to the senate in 2004, which, to paraphrase the man himself, does indeed sound like the Barry we thought we knew. I have no problem with it — it’s always best to be prepared, and if you’ve got a “sprawling and seamless” organization lying around, might as well take advantage — but why his team would be leaking about this in light of all the other presumptuousness chronicled by Geraghty is bizarre. Per the McCain camp’s football analogy, the surest way to fire up the other team is to guarantee victory before the game’s begun. Stupid.

Exit question: How does this compare to Kerry’s transition planning four years ago? This CSM piece from late July 2004 suggests they’d already started thinking about a cabinet, but most of the other references to a transition team that I find on Google are from October, when he’d actually started to name people. Do note, though, this recent essay on transition planning by Kerry’s transition chairman, Harrison Wellford. The very first step: “Transition planning needs to be begin not only before the election but also before the conventions.”

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