President-elect prepares diplomatic offensive
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama says he will appoint a team immediately after his inauguration Tuesday to address "on Day One" the crisis in Gaza and brewing troubles across the Middle East.
"We've got a regional set of problems," Obama said in a wide-ranging interview with USA TODAY, noting challenges in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as between Israelis and Palestinians. "They're not going to be solved in isolation. And we've got to be active in all these areas in order for us to be successful in any of these areas."
The diplomatic offensive, which could include the appointment of special envoys, contrasts sharply with President Bush's approach to the volatile region. Bush put less emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict early in his tenure and tended to deal with Middle East problems separately.
In an interview Wednesday at transition headquarters, Obama was relaxed and seemingly at ease — in turn somber about foreign challenges, confident that the massive stimulus package would pass Congress by mid-February and animated about his inaugural address.
He said he had finished "a good, solid draft" last weekend although he might still do some "tinkering" on it.
"My job in this speech and in my presidency is just to remind people of the road we've traveled and the extraordinary odds that we've already overcome," he said. The first African American elected president, he called himself "an emblem" of that progress.
His message to Americans: "We've been through tougher times before, and we're going to get through these."
Obama bristled a bit when asked about Bush's comments in a USA TODAY interview Tuesday suggesting the new president might reconsider his opposition to such anti-terrorism tools as "enhanced" interrogation techniques and the U.S. prison at Guantanamo once he's in the Oval Office.
"I don't make these decisions blindly," Obama replied. Since the election, he noted, he has been receiving the same daily intelligence briefing as Bush. "We're not leaping before we look here. I understand exactly what issues are at stake."
He added that it was "completely understandable" that Bush and Vice President Cheney would "want to explain their actions in the best possible light as they leave."
Obama said he was discussing with congressional leaders whether to seek repeal of the Bush tax cuts for families with annual incomes of $250,000 or more. He previously has indicated he would wait for them to lapse next year — which would avoid an early battle with Republicans — while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday repeated her vow to roll them back now.
Before deciding how to proceed, he said, "I want to hear more from my economic advisers in terms of whether it will make a difference, a significant difference economically, whether it's done this year or we just let it lapse."
There's no distance between him and Pelosi on another issue: A hard-and-fast deadline to pass the $825 billion stimulus package before the President's Day recess begins Feb. 16.
"Look, we've now seen two consecutive months with a half a million jobs lost each month," he said. "We could potentially lose 3 to 4 million more jobs this year if we don't take action, and that's not an acceptable option."
He discussed one more challenge he'll face with his inauguration: Dancing at the official balls.
"Michelle keeps on knocking my dancing in public in ways that have hurt my feelings," Obama said with mock distress, "so I probably should practice just 'cause she'll tease me mercilessly if I step on her toes."