There are times in every election season where pundits, prognosticators and political junkies (guilty!), bereft of the daily gotcha games, policy shifts and sharp attacks of the campaign trail, find themselves starved for news. 

When there is no actual news to report, these people do what they do best.  They attempt to create news to fill the perceived vacuum.  And that is where the madness - the delirious, frothing, rabid analysis, replete with the requisite hand-wringing, finger-shaking and concern-trolling - takes full flight amongst these people. 

These times usually occur in the two weeks or so before the vice presidential nominees are unveiled, and in the ten weeks or so between the end of the Presidential election and Inauguration Day, when the next President's transition efforts are at full steam.

This is a time-honored tradition in American politics, as old as the Republic itself, and this year is no exception.  Barack Obama has been President-elect for exactly 11 days as of this writing, and the new meme appears to be that he's choosing people who are too (Clintonian, male, Democratic, partisan, not me).

I find all of this frenzied speculation utterly unconvincing.  Let's see if we can calm the waters and maybe even stop the madness a bit. 

First, there's the notion that Obama isn't looking at enough women or other "special" groups. 

As far as I am aware, the only people who are currently signed on to the Obama Administration are Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff, Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary and Valerie Jarrett as senior advisor.  It appears that Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson are under consideration for Secretary of State, and David Axelrod will be a senior advisor or special assistant of some sort if he chooses to leave his insanely lucrative consulting business. 

That's right.  Obama is guilty of selecting a Jewish man, a White Southerner and an African-American woman to top posts.  On top of that heinous offense, Obama is also guilty of considering a White New Yorker, Hispanic Westerner and a White Illinoisan to staff other top posts.  (Sounds positively monochromatic, no?)  One thing is certain, though:  their plainly evident excellence defuses any rational opposition.

Again, note that the above people are the only ones confirmed by the transition team as either being in the running or already on board.  That means that everything else you may have heard is nothing more than gossip, and should be given appropriately short shrift.

Second, there's the notion that Obama is picking too many Clinton "loyalists", thus ensuring there won't be any "change" to "hope" for.

The truth is that there has been exactly one Democratic President between 1981 and now.  So, what's an incoming Democratic President to do if he wants experienced people from his own party to help in his transition and administration?  The simple truth is that most Beltway Democrats probably have the phrase "Clinton Administration" somewhere on their resumes. 

Incidentally, there's also a huge difference between the atmospheres faced by those Clinton staffers who came in after 1992 and those Obama staffers who will come in after this year.  Clinton did win a ton of electoral votes - but he only won 43% of the popular vote.  He did not have the sort of public mandate and support that Obama will enjoy.  That translates into political capital that the Obama Administration can deploy to enact big planks of the campaign platform. 

Of course, whether that will actually happen remains to be seen.  However, I surmise that Obama will go after the biggest items early in his term, when the public will be most tolerant of bumps on the road to change.  The point, however, is that Clinton's staff didn't have nearly as much muscle to flex as Obama's will.  Moreover, these people are Democrats interested in doing good things in government.  I suspect they will be on board with the new President.

Third, there's the notion that Obama isn't doing anything to "heal" any "divides" by not considering any Republicans for positions in his administration.

This is where I issue a warning to all those who see the GOP as irrelevant.  They still have a large base, and they still have the support of the MSM.  (Don't believe me?  Take a look at this Sunday's talking-head-fest, and see the guest lineups.) 

This notion was started by John Boehner, carried forward by other Republican Congresscritters, and reported with typical credulity by the MSM.  Memes such as this one, while blatantly false and frankly idiotic, can drive wedges if care is not taken to slap them down immediately upon conception.

Obama is reportedly considering keeping Robert Gates at Defense (my speculation:  he'd like to have retired Gen. Anthony Zinni, but he's not available until 2010).  He's also reportedly considering other Republicans like Chuck Hagel, Colin Powell and Richard Lugar for various positions.  Yes, I know what Lugar said about it...but that's what Joe Biden said publicly about the Vice Presidency, too.  Anyway, that's five Republicans.  Seems like a lot of Republicans.

A few final points to consider about the transition and staffing process.  Being on the Obama transition team is no guarantee of being in the Obama Administration.  For example, Robert Reich is highly unlikely to do anything other than his current duties as a transition advisor, and that position should expire by January 19. 

Also, notice that, while the GAO's transition offices are going full-steam and being run by Obama operatives, Obama himself has been on the ground in Washington for about four hours since November 5.  He's handling his end of things out of his transition offices in Chicago.  This means that any major appointments will come from Obama - not from Foggy Bottom.  The President-elect is very much in control of the selection process, and will not be rushed or successfully pressured.

Barack Obama is building his administration carefully, with ample political and personnel consideration, focusing on quality rather than meeting some artificial quota, and with control over all parts of the decision making process. 

These were, as I recall, cornerstones of his campaign.  That should be reassuring, given the success of said campaign.  In the meantime, as Mark Halperin (!!!) said about the media frenzy following Republican crocodile tears over Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment:  "Stop the madness!"