There can be no vacation break in Hawaii this time. President-elect Obama must quickly appoint experienced cabinet members and key advisers to help steady the anxious national and global financial markets.
Virtually all the urgent foreign policy challenges –- reassuring Iraqis that he will not compromise the progress made to date under the surge, countering Iran's effort to acquire nuclear weapons (initially through diplomatic engagement) and reinforcing America's commitment to the weak, but democratically elected government of Pakistan to destroy Al Qaeda and roll back the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan -– ultimately depend on successfully calming and restoring confidence in the markets.
His team must work closely with the outgoing Bush administration and vanquished competitor John McCain to rally confidence in the Obama's determination to provide the financial leadership the world is seeking. In other words, it's still the economy, stupid…