Obama's transition has been impressive, and not just for the reasons usually cited.  He's also the first President-Elect to start running the country a month early. 

Obama has selcted his entire Cabinet and upper-level White House staff in record time, and now can go on a two-week vacation in Hawaii, leaving his new administration in charge  (Go on in, Barack, the water's fine!).  Almost all of his selections have been widely praised and none needed to be withdrawn because something came out about them.  None have caused controversy except Eric Holder, and he's only controversial because Republicans are afraid he might prosecute them (You think they care about Marc Rich? Yeah, they just hate that kind of corruption).  And there have been no leaks except the ones that were obviously on purpose. 

What all this means is not just that Obama is a good judge of people.  It means that he already has an administrative bureaucracy up and running.  He started setting up this bureaucracy way before he won the election, in fact as soon as he clinched the Democratic nomination.  Like his other far-sighted moves, this one is now paying off.  His vetting process for everyone was notably rigorous and thorough, and that seems to have prevented mistakes.  Something could still come out about someone, but it won't ne Obama's fault. 

Now economic policy is starting to flow from his economic team.  They are already working out the details of the stimulus package, so it can be presented when Congress convenes on January 6, two weeks before Obama takes office.  They are also clearly engaging in a series of planned leaks as part of this planning process.  These leaks seem designed to both assess political oppostition and build political support.   They are assessing opposition by putting out ranges of numbers and general components of the package to see how Republicans and pundits react.  So far, their plans have not provoked any threats of opposition, so they'll probably be presented roughly as they've been leaked, although further bad economic news could make the numbers bigger.  I love the way they're building support.  Several people high up in the transition are telling the media that they've been consulting with outside economists across the political spectrum, but the only names any of these people give out are those of conservatives like Martin Feldstein and Mark Zandi.  Putting out the names of conservative economists as advisors makes Republican opposition look irresponsible.  What this tells you is that the leaking is planned and coordinated.  

Meanwhile, the health care team is also working, but under less scrutiny.  Obama and Daschle know that this one will be difficult, both intellectually and politically, so they are already mobilizing supporters to give ideas and vote on them.  This way, they can see what kinds of policies have what kinds of support.  Other policy task forces are also working, while administrative task forces are combing through the Executive Branch, making detailed assessments of departments and programs so that they can get to work immediately on January 20.   

The general strategy for Obam's first term is pretty clear, and pretty smart.   Obama knows that Presidents get elected on promises and re-elected on performance, and where people most want performance is the economy.  He has a huge mandate to take action to rescue it, and he is going to use this mandate as a way to enact his other main priorities as well.   Obama is apparently going to try to fold energy, health, infrastructure, and antipoverty initiatives into his stimulus program to whatever extent is possible, and try to kill several birds with one stone. The trial balloons being floated by his people about the stimulus plan make this clear, and it's an excellent strategy. 

It's amazing.  He hasn't even taken office, and  he's running the country already.  And he's made enough progress in doing it to go on vacation.  This guy is as good as Bush is bad, and that's really saying something.  Can't wait for the Inauguration.