26 December 2008

More reasons to love Obama

President-elect Obama is nominating people to his cabinet, and other posts, who have experience in the posts to which they are nominated. It's sad that this is newsworthy. A couple of examples, Treasury Secretary: Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Energy Secretary: Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Nobel Prize-winning physicist.

Another great example of the right person for the job: Jon Favreau, Obama's chief speech writer (in the Star Tribune via the Washington Post). He's only 27 years old but is completely in sync with the president-elect.

During the campaign, the 27-year-old with a buzz cut helped write and edit some of the most memorable speeches of any recent presidential candidate. When Obama moves to the White House next month, Favreau will join his staff as the youngest person to be selected as chief speechwriter. He helps shape almost every word Obama says, yet the two men have formed a concert so harmonized that Favreau's own voice disappears.

"He looks like he's in college and everybody calls him Favs, so you're like, 'This guy can't be for real, right?' " said Ben Rhodes, another Obama speechwriter. "But it doesn't take long to realize that he's totally synced up with Obama. . . . He has access to everything and everybody. There's a lot weighing on his shoulders." Rest of story.

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