Live Blogging President-Elect Obama’s First Press Conference

Fri, November 07, 2008 - 2:22 PM

(For latecomers, read from the bottom up)

***

And it's over. Pretty short.

***

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet has an arm on her sling, which she says she hurt running to Obama's victory speech on Tuesday night.

***

Asked about the dog he promised his daughters, Obama says it's a "major issue." Malia is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic. He says they would like to get a shelter dog.

Michelle Obama is scouting out schools for the kids in Washington.

***

Q: To what extent will you use your influence in naming a sucessor to your Senate seat?
A: The governor has that responsibility, not mine.

***

Question: when will you send low level communiques to Iran, Cuba other dictatorships to see about meetings? Obama says "we only have one President at a time" and says he wants to be careful about sending dual signals.

***

Question: are you confident that Congress can pass a stimulus package before Bush leaves office? Obama: "If it is not done in a lame duck session, it will be the first thing I do as president of the United States."

***

Obama says Congress must pass a stimulus package, "either before or after inauguration."

***

The DOW has dropped 90 points since Obama started speaking.

***

Obama says he "does not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead." He adds: "It's not going to be quick, it's not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole we're in."

***

For the curious, here's the lineup behind him:

William Daley - Chairman of the Midwest, JP Morgan Chase; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Commerce, 1997-2000

Robert Reich - University of California, Berkeley; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Labor, 1993-1997

Penny Pritzker - CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt

Roger Ferguson - President and CEO, TIAA-CREF and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

Lawrence Summers - Harvard University; Managing Director, D.E. Shaw; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1999-2001

Anne Mulcahy - Chairman and CEO, Xerox

Richard Parsons - Chairman of the Board, Time Warner

Paul Volcker - Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve 1979-1987

Rahm Emanuel - United States Representative (IL-05)

President Elect Obama

Vice President Elect Biden

Jennifer Granholm - Governor, State of Michigan

Robert Rubin - Director and Senior Counselor, Citigroup; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1995-1999

David Bonior - Member House of Representatives (Michigan) 1977-2003

Laura Tyson - (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; Former Chairman, National Economic Council, 1995-1996; Former Chairman, President’s Council of Economic Advisors, 1993-1995)

Antonio Villaraigosa - Mayor, City of Los Angeles

William Donaldson - Former Chairman of the SEC, 2003-2005

Eric Schmidt - Chairman and CEO, Google

Roel Campos - Former Commissioner of the SEC


***

He says his transition team plans a major review of the financial rescue package passed by Congress and the Bush administration last month.

***

Obama on auto industry: urges Bush administration to speed up financial assistance to car markers, and said his transition team is focused on the issue.

***

He pledges to address economic crisis right after he becomes president, work with President Bush on the issue until then, and talks up "rescue plan for middle class" -- a favorite talking point on the campaign trail -- and expansion of unemployment benefits.

***

Flanked by his economic advisers, Obama starts out with the terrible unemployment numbers released today. "An urgent reminder that we're facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime," he says.

***

Still running late. Very Clintonesque in that regard, though Obama also had a reputation for late arrivals on the campaign trail. The Very Important People have lined up behind the podium, including Obama's new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. And here comes Obama.

***

Obama's first press conference is about to get underway in Chicago and we're liveblogging it. It was supposed to start at 2:30, but we just got word that it will be starting about 10 minutes late because Obama's meeting with his economic team is running late.

Refresh for the latest updates, which will appear at the top of the page.

--Sean Mussenden