Teams, Of Transitions And Rivals

From everything I've read so far, I just have to say that I have been very happy, even excited by Obama's transition process: He is focusing first on the White House staff, not the Cabinet (a mistake Bill Clinton made); he has appointed a total player, wonk and loyalist as Chief of Staff who seems to be about getting things done and knowing how to do it in a place like Washington; he has already begun to signal or outright state what his first priorities will be (the economy and energy); and, by the fact that he is considering having Gates and Clinton in his Cabinet he is assembling a "team of rivals" Linclon-style, which I love. This is a man who is not afraid of having a lot of strong and differing advice around him. Though it just occurred to me that Bush's cabinet looked this way at first -- remember that Rumsfeld the heavyweight was brought in to counter Powell the heavyweight -- it feels like Obama's choices, if they are Gates and Clinton, go much farther. First, Gates is a Republican, so this is a true oppositional voice. Also, he is a holdover from the Bush administration. Obama wants the whatever wisdom the Bush administration has accumulated inside his administration (unlike the Bushies who seemed to do everything the opposite of Clinton). Second, Clinton is a mega-star, known the world over. Her reputation and level of fame rivals his. To have someone who he ran against in a harsh campaign in his cabinet is a sign of real maturity. In this context the pick of Emanuel also looks good: such strong personalities need a strong hand to control them. In the first four Bush years Condi Rice got steamrolled as National Security Advisor (of course, it didn't help to have Cheney doing whatever he wanted). A strong chief of staff seems to signal a strong desire for centralized decision-making.