Opinion: Full video of today’s Obama economic statement and answers

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Here’s fresh news video of the president-elect today naming two more budget officials, one another Clintonite, and calmly outlining his priorities. Not about big government or small government, he says, but about ‘smarter government.’

Very carefully rolling out his economic program and team -- each day a little bit more to drive home the point, consistently and repeatedly, of thoughtfully and methodically organizing a new government (unlike, say, the last Democratic presidency to take office).

Smartly designed to give Americans a positive first impression of organizing good teams, one by one, even though he can do little right now other than speak to the people’s confidence and assure them ‘change’ is coming.

Interesting too that this change is to be engineered with one or two exceptions by decidedly moderates, centrists, Democratic middle-of-the roaders, not the party’s left as Republicans warned of so ominously during the campaign.

A Ticket reminder: Look back here at our item from nearly three weeks ago: Rahm Emanuel, in 2001 writing in The Times on how George W. Bush should unroll his new administration, using the negative lessons and mistakes that Emanuel was so involved in making in the early, far less-organized, gaffe-prone days of Bill Clinton’s administration in 1993. Well worth a re-read.

The Obama-Emanuel team is following that seven-year-old plan almost to a T.

That’s when the new president failed to announce his chief of staff until just five days before the inauguration.

Now, of course, as White House chief of staff-designate, Emanuel is intimately involved in orchestrating the rollout of Obama’s administration.

The American people want to know, Obama said today, ‘their new president has a plan and is going to act swiftly and boldly.’ Watch the complete raw video below here. Very smooth.

--Andrew Malcolm

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