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Honestly, there is a power vacuum in the Oval Office. We are in an extraordinary precarious time. With the economy tanking, the war on terror still at max, and the country needing there to be a seamless transition, he apparently decided to take the established title of TPE one step further and add a seal to the existing Office of the President Elect.
When an Obama hater like Lou Dobbs is giving Obama points for trying to fill the power gap left by the current office holder's decision to ramp down his involvement and mentally get back to brush cutting a few months early, it becomes more a choice between being criticized for being ostentatious versus setting a tone that a firm hand is on the tiller waiting to take charge of the economy. The market is one place where perception becomes reality. If he is thought to be weak and indecisive, it can cost our economy. I am happy he chose to try and enhance his prestige as a take charge guy during these troubling times.
If I was an anti-Obama guy, then I'd look for reasons to pot shot him. But the trouble is, our problems are such that the need to back our President is more pressing now than at any time. He has displayed a willingness not to be vindictive (see Lieberman and Clinton) and not to be a liberal ideologue (see keeping Gates). I just don't see the criticism as anything more than sour grapes. But I could be wrong and seeing this through my partisan glasses.
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