The job requires him to work unnoticed, even in plain view, so Jon Favreau settles into a wooden chair at a busy Starbucks in the center of Penn Quarter. Deadline looms, and he needs to write at least half a page by the end of the day. As the espresso machines whir, Favreau opens his laptop, calls up a document titled "rough draft of inaugural" and goes to work on the most anticipated speech of Barack Obama's life.

During the campaign, the buzz-cut 27-year-old at the corner table 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 ever 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."

Especially now, as Favreau and the rest of Obama's young staffers begin a transition that extends far beyond new job titles. Three months ago, Favreau lived in a group house with six friends in Chicago, where he rarely shaved, never cooked and sometimes stayed up to play video games until early morning. Now, he has transformed into what one friend called a "Washington political force" -- a minor celebrity with a down payment on a Dupont Circle condo, whose silly Facebook photos with a Hillary Rodham Clinton cutout created what passes for controversy in Obama's so far drama-free transition.

Favreau believes he will transition well if he focuses exclusively on writing, which is why he has buried himself in the inaugural address. He moves while he writes to avoid becoming stale -- from the Starbucks, to his windowless transition office, to his new, one-bedroom condo, where the only furniture in place is a blow-up mattress on the hardwood floor. He sometimes writes until 2 or 3 a.m., fueled by double espresso shots and Red Bull. When deadline nears, a speech consumes him until he works 16-hour days and forgets to call home, do his laundry or pay his bills. He calls it "crashing."

Last month, Favreau met for an hour in Chicago with Obama and adviser David Axelrod, as is their habit before important speeches. Obama told him to make the inaugural address no longer than 15 or 20 minutes, and they agreed to theme it around, Favreau said, "this moment that we're in, and the idea that America was founded on certain ideals that we need to take back." Obama asked for a first draft by Thanksgiving. Favreau explained that he had planned a vacation and promised a draft by this week.

During his vacation, Favreau e-mailed notes to himself via BlackBerry while visiting friends in Manhattan and talked about structure at his family's Thanksgiving dinner. He listened to recordings of past inaugural addresses and met with Peggy Noonan, Ronald Reagan's speechwriter, to seek advice. One of Favreau's assistants researched other periods in history when the United States faced crises; another interviewed historians such as David McCullough.

Still more daunting is the list of things Favreau can't think about as he writes the inaugural. He went for a run to the Lincoln Memorial last month and stopped in his tracks when he imagined the mall packed with 3 million people listening to some of his words. A few weeks later, Favreau winced when Obama spokesman Bill Burton reminded him: "Dude, what you're writing is going to be hung up in people's living rooms!"

"If you start thinking about what's at stake, it can get paralyzing," Favreau said.

Obama sometimes jokes that Favreau is not so much a speechwriter as a mind reader. He carries Obama's 1995 autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," with him almost everywhere and has memorized most of his famous keynote speech from the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He has mastered Obama's writing style -- short, elegant sentences -- and internalized his boss's tendency toward reflection and ideological balance.

Favreau's job is "to be like a baseball umpire," one co-worker said, and perform his task so deftly that nobody notices him. He listens to Obama tell stories in his office and spins them into developed metaphors, rich in historical context. When Obama delivers a speech on the road, Favreau studies the recording and notes the points at which Obama departs from the text so he can refine the riffs and incorporate them next time.

In four years together, Obama and Favreau have perfected their writing process. Before most speeches, Obama meets with Favreau for an hour to explain what he wants to say. Favreau types notes on his laptop and takes a crack at the first draft. Obama edits and rewrites portions himself -- he is the better writer, Favreau insists -- and they usually work through final revisions together. If Favreau looks stressed, Obama sometimes reassures him: "Don't worry. I'm a writer, too, and I know that sometimes the muse hits you and sometimes it doesn't. We'll figure it out together."

"The president-elect understands that Jon is a rare talent. He knows what he's got," said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor, who also worked in the Senate office. "There's a mutual respect and appreciation between them, and the president-elect trusts Jon's instincts and ability. It's a partnership."

They stumbled upon it by accident in 2004, when Obama, just elected to the Senate, needed to hire a speechwriter. He brought Favreau, then 23, into the Senate dining room for an interview on his first day in office. They talked for 30 minutes about harmless topics such as family and baseball before Obama turned serious.

"So," he said. "What's your theory on speechwriting?"

Awkward silence. Favreau, just graduated from Holy Cross, had talked his way onto Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign in 2003 and had become a press assistant, arriving at the office at 3 a.m. to clip newspapers. The speech he had given as class valedictorian circulated around the staff, and Favreau eventually got a shot at speechwriting. He wrote well and rose to the top of the department, but there was never any time to formulate theories. Now, Favreau looked at Obama and went with his gut.

"A speech can broaden the circle of people who care about this stuff," Favreau said. "How do you say to the average person that's been hurting: 'I hear you. I'm there. Even though you've been so disappointed and cynical about politics in the past, and with good reason, we can move in the right direction. Just give me a chance.' "

"I think this is going to work," Obama said.

Favreau worked for more than two years in Obama's Senate office before moving to Chicago to help with the presidential campaign. He hired speechwriters Rhodes and Adam Frankel -- and, a year later, former Clinton speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz -- and together they crafted the speeches Obama delivered on the night of each primary.

The writers could sometimes crank out a 1,500-word speech in one or two days, working in Obama's Chicago headquarters almost until sunrise. Sometimes, it took Favreau and his team hours to conceptualize the opening few lines. They gathered in a tiny office and formed sentences out loud, each word mulled and debated, until suddenly -- yes! -- they could envision the whole speech.

"When we were on, we could finish each other's thoughts," Frankel said. "We knew where we were going next. We were in total alignment on those speeches."

One Saturday night in March, Obama called Favreau and said he wanted to immediately deliver a speech about race. He dictated his unscripted thoughts to Favreau over the phone for 30 minutes -- "It would have been a great speech right then," Favreau said -- and then asked him to clean it up and write a draft. Favreau put it together, and Obama spent two nights retooling before delivering the address in Philadelphia the following Tuesday.

"So," Obama told Favreau afterward. "I think that worked."

Favreau wrote a first draft of the Democratic National Convention acceptance speech, but his boss thought it lacked direction. Obama rewrote it, and it ended up almost 15 minutes too long. Favreau spent three days traveling across the country with Obama so they could trim the speech, editing until a few hours before Obama stepped to the lectern in front of more than 84,000 people in Denver.

For Election Day, Favreau wrote two speeches -- one in case of a win and another for a loss. After Obama learned that he had won Pennsylvania and essentially secured the presidency, he called Favreau to make final word edits on the victory address. "Okay, this all sounds good," Favreau said when Obama finished making his changes. "And hopefully we never have to think about that other one again."

All told, Favreau spent more than 18 months on almost constant deadline, staying up until 5 a.m. during the financial crisis to craft speeches for the next day and waking up at 8 a.m. to obsess over the daily tracking polls, which he started calling "daily crack."

When the pressure wore on Favreau, he unwound like a 27-year-old, sending prank e-mails to friends at the Obama offices or playing the video game Rock Band in the Lincoln Park group house he shared with six campaign staffers. He visited Axelrod's office and sought advice. He called his best friend, Josh Porter, when he felt ready to break down.

"A few times he called at midnight, sounding just done," Porter said. "He would be like, 'I don't know if I can do this anymore. I'm in over my head. I'm starting to freak out.' "

But there were also moments of euphoria, when Favreau would catch himself choking up while riding in the motorcade or rehearsing with Obama backstage. Before he entered Grant Park on election night, to stand in the VIP section with his parents and younger brother to hear Obama speak, Favreau sent a quick e-mail to Porter at 9:07 p.m. The subject line read: "Dude."

"We won," Favreau wrote. "Oh my God."

Two weeks after the election, Favreau accepted a new job that essentially came with a new life. He moved back to Washington, hired a real estate agent, bought his first apartment and ordered furniture from Pottery Barn that sits unopened in nine boxes lined against his wall. He will need to buy more jackets and ties to replace his preferred outfit of jeans and a sweater. Friends joke that Favreau suddenly turned 40 this year -- but he still shows flashes of 27.

At a party at his parents' house over Thanksgiving vacation, he danced and posed awkwardly next to a cardboard cutout of Clinton. A buddy uploaded photos onto Facebook, reporters discovered them, and suddenly experts were debating Favreau's maturity on television. Favreau called Clinton and Obama to apologize. They told him not to worry, but he still does.

How is this supposed to work, anyway? Do Favreau and the rest of Obama's young staffers transform to meet the formalities of the White House, or does the White House change to accommodate them? For almost two years during the campaign, Favreau and his speechwriting staff came to work in jeans and communicated via instant messaging. When they needed to write, they crammed together into a closet-size room, feet on the table, downing energy drinks and ordering takeout late into the night.

"We were always informal -- that's Favs's style," said Rhodes, one of the speechwriters. "I don't think he ever scheduled a meeting where we all sat down at a table and said, 'Here's what we have to do this week.' And if he had, we probably would have laughed at him."

But now Favreau and the other senior speechwriters are preparing to move into separate offices and expand their staff. Favreau expects to hire four or five more writers -- including a few who focus on foreign policy -- and he's unsure how to manage them. "My biggest strength isn't the organization thing," he said. A few of the other speechwriters have volunteered to help train and direct new hires.

Obama's speeches are likely to evolve, too. Some will focus more on policy, Favreau said, and a few dozen bureaucrats will want to parse each word. Andrei Cherny, a former White House speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore, called Favreau after the election to congratulate him and then warned that, in the White House, "the scrutiny and the power is unlike anyplace else."

"We know that we're going to have to approach the White House our way and have some fun with it," Favreau said, "because that kind of attitude is what made us successful."

No matter how it goes, Favreau believes this will be his last job in politics -- "anything else would be so anticlimactic," he said. Someday, he wants to write in his own voice, for himself.

"Maybe I'll write a screenplay, or maybe a fiction book based loosely on what all of this was like," Favreau said. "You had a bunch of kids working on this campaign together, and it was such a mix of the serious and momentous and just the silly ways that we are. For people in my generation, it was an unbelievable way to grow up."

Conversations this week with a senior diplomat from a major European country, a Middle Eastern ambassador and an Asian ambassador revealed a common angst: Barack Obama's folks aren't talking.

All three diplomats are getting constant messages from their home offices wondering what's going on, and all three said they feel worthless having to respond that they still can't get a meeting.

And we are not talking minor players here. These are all major, big-league countries, our colleague Glenn Kessler reports.

One diplomat said that his country even sent envoys to Washington to meet with Obamaland, but they couldn't get a meeting. Instead, the transition team sent "ears" -- youngish folks who are kind of connected to Obama.

The "ears" didn't say anything, but they took very careful notes of what the foreign officials wanted to say and then promised to report to the transition team.

Another ambassador noted that there was no point in meeting with the Bush people anymore, so he suddenly finds he has too much time on his hands.

It's not as if the Obama team is completely dissing these folks. One transition team member was spotted at an embassy cocktail reception, but it was widely accepted that he wouldn't say anything of substance.

All along Embassy Row, people think that Jan. 20 can't come soon enough. Only then, they think, will they begin to figure out Obama's foreign policy direction.

They may be in for a big surprise.

Obama's selection of outgoing Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) to be transportation secretary was a spectacular early Christmas present to hundreds of GOP lobbyists in Washington -- a group much depressed since Nov. 4. The GOP-dominated Air Transport Association of America, the lobby for U.S. airlines, avidly followed each blog yesterday as it reported the news and then sent links to its members all afternoon.

Given that the huge Obama stimulus package looks to focus heavily on transportation infrastructure projects, Republicans lobbying for highway, rail and water transport also were surely popping corks in celebration.

A GOP lobbyist, however, noted that President Bush had a Democrat, Norman Y. Mineta, as transportation secretary for much of his administration -- the longest-serving ever.

"They ensured that Democrats were well represented in that department with their issues and their lobbyists," a Republican lobbyist opined, hoping the new pick will mean good news for the GOP.

So let's see, Obama's from Chicago, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is from Chicago, and LaHood's district is a couple of hours away. That means Illinois is the new Alaska! Minus the indictments and the convictions of course, the lobbyist said.

Six days after the election, we noted hearing that former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack was pretty much a "shoo-in" for secretary of agriculture. Two weeks later, the Des Moines Register referred to that item but reported that Vilsack sent the paper an oddly worded e-mail in which he said he'd never been contacted by Obama aides about the job and he did "not think it prudent or appropriate to speculate" on this.

We were a bit puzzled, given that major Democratic players had weighed in on Vilsack's behalf, and our intelligence was pretty solid. But we backed off.

Yesterday, at the Vilsack announcement, a Register reporter asked Obama, "What has happened in the month since Governor Vilsack was led to believe that he would not be the choice for secretary of agriculture?"

"Well, I don't know who led him to believe that," Obama said. "Whoever did, obviously, was misinformed, because here he stands."

Past experience would indicate that -- pure speculation here -- after the initial flurry of oddly spontaneous support for Vilsack, followed by the news reports and "near shoo-in" status, someone in Chicago, maybe someone like David Axelrod or another Obama confident, let it be known that he thought Vilsack should go low-profile for a while.

So Vilsack e-mails the Register and everyone backs off.

A few weeks ago, the Iowa Independent also noted that we "went so far as to call" Vilsack a "near shoo-in."

Overly cautious. Shoulda cut the "near."

Peter Rundlet -- a former counsel for the 9/11 Commission; a former vice president and managing director for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress; and more recently a senior official at Humanity United, a nonprofit seeking to improve conditions in impoverished and violence-torn countries -- is said to be the Obama administration pick for deputy staff secretary at the White House, the No. 2 person controlling paper flow over there.

Former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, now tasked with overhauling the nation's health-care system and the Department of Health and Human Services, will be able to count on former aide Mark Childress to help him. Childress is to be his chief of staff and also deputy director of the new White House Office of Health Reform. Childress had been Daschle's chief counsel and policy director when he was in the Senate.

President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) to become transportation secretary, adding a second Republican to a key position in his administration, according to senior Democratic officials.

LaHood, 63, who is retiring after representing a rural downstate Illinois district in Congress since 1995, would play a major role in overseeing the huge public works program the administration plans to implement to stimulate the flagging economy. Obama earlier tapped another Republican, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has agreed to stay on after serving in the same role in the Bush administration. The president-elect has said repeatedly that he wants to include several Republicans in the top rungs of his administration in an effort to get beyond the partisan bickering that often paralyzes Washington policymaking.

As transportation secretary, LaHood would be in a charge of an agency that oversees much of the nation's roads and rails, as well as its air traffic control system. He would also be a critical figure in the administration's two-year economic stimulus plan, which Obama has said would include hundreds of billons of dollars to repair and build roads and bridges and update and expand the nation's mass-transit systems.

Kenneth P. Quinn, a former Federal Aviation Administration chief counsel who now is a partner at the Pillsbury law firm, hailed LaHood as an "outstanding bipartisan pick for the new president."

"But he's going to be facing extremely daunting challenges in the industry, particularly in aviation, to restore badly strained labor-management relations at the FAA," Quinn said. "At the same time, he'll have to effectively modernize our air traffic control system and deal with very pressing competition and congestion problems."

The grandson of Lebanese immigrants, LaHood grew up in Peoria, Ill., and earned a bachelor's degree from Bradley University. He taught junior high in Catholic schools and later was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. He also served as an aide in the U.S. House, rising to chief of staff to then-Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.).

LaHood was elected to Congress in the 1994 Republican Revolution and has developed a centrist voting record and a reputation as a deficit hawk. He was one of only three Republicans who did not sign then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America." And he developed a measure of national fame when he presided over the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

In recent years, LaHood developed a close relationship with Obama, becoming a key player on the House Appropriations Committee on behalf of the Illinois delegation. A moderate Republican, LaHood has not shied away from criticizing the Bush administration and has a reputation for working with leaders of both parties. But he was an enthusiastic supporter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the presidential contest.

During an Oct. 3 speech on the floor of the House, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who will be Obama's chief of staff, praised LaHood as someone the framers of the Constitution would have "had in their mind's eye" when they "thought of a member of Congress."

"He is an individual who, while firm in his principles, was very flexible about his opinions," he added.

As he works to round out his Cabinet, Obama yesterday nominated Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) as interior secretary and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack (D) to be agriculture secretary, adding two centrists with considerable experience to his governing team.

Speaking at a Chicago news conference, Obama said his administration's policies at the Agriculture and Interior departments would be "designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence-peddlers but family farmers and the American people."

He said Vilsack "understands that the solution to our energy crisis will be found not in oil fields abroad but in our farm fields here at home."

Vilsack's nomination was greeted positively, both by environmental activists and the food industry.

Obama said the Interior Department has been "deeply troubled" under the Bush administration and "too often has been seen as an appendage of commercial interests as opposed to a place where the values and interests of the American people are served." He said he wants a "more proactive Interior Department," rather than one "that sees its job as simply sitting back waiting for whoever has [the] most access in Washington to extract what they want."

"I also want an Interior Department that, very frankly, cleans up its act," Obama said. "There have been too many problems and too much emphasis on big-time lobbyists in Washington and not enough emphasis on what's good for the American people, and that's going to change under Ken Salazar."

Staff writers Paul Kane and Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen a veteran regulator to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, the beleaguered agency that has been pilloried by lawmakers for failing to prevent the global financial meltdown, senior Democratic officials said yesterday.

The selection of Mary L. Schapiro, who would be the first woman to chair the SEC on more than an interim basis, follows a series of high-profile controversies that have raised doubts about its competence as the chief enforcer of Wall Street under the leadership of its current chairman, Christopher Cox. The SEC's failure to detect Bernard L. Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme before it was revealed last week has prompted even Cox himself to question the agency's performance.

Cable business news channel CNBC and the Reuters wire service reported this morning that Obama also intends to appoint Georgetown University law professor Daniel K. Tarullo to one of the two open seats on the Federal Reserve Board. Tarullo is one of Obama's economic policy advisers, and held several jobs in the Clinton administration related to international trade and regulatory policy.

Schapiro, a Wall Street regulator for 20 years with a reputation for tenacity, is likely to push the SEC to become more aggressive in policing the financial industry and advocating the agency's interests as lawmakers push for an overhaul of the financial regulatory structure, according to former officials and colleagues.

"If there is anybody who is going to reinvigorate the SEC, it is Mary," said David M. Becker, a former general counsel at the agency. "I have no doubt that with her leading the SEC, it will show its teeth whenever necessary."

Schapiro, 53, has a history of attracting support from Republicans and Democrats. President Ronald Reagan appointed her as a commissioner at the SEC, where she served for six years and eventually was named acting chair by President Bill Clinton. He later made her the chief of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The fact that she has led both agencies could make it easier for the Obama administration to merge the functions of the two agencies as part of a broad regulatory overhaul expected next year. Key regulators and lawmakers have advocated such a move, arguing that the bifurcation of duties created a gap in oversight that contributed to the financial crisis.

Schapiro, whose selection will be announced today in Chicago, heads the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Wall Street's self-regulator known as FINRA. She has worked for the non-governmental group since 1996.

She is likely to face questions during her confirmation hearing about why her organization did not catch the alleged Ponzi scheme run by Madoff. She oversees firms like his.

Rep. Spencer Bachus (Ala.), the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, issued a letter yesterday calling for separate hearings "to specifically examine the adequacy of the SEC's and FINRA's examination programs." Such a hearing could put Schapiro on public display among the current cast of regulators even as the incoming administration is presenting her as an agent for change at the SEC.

Several critics of the SEC said yesterday that Schapiro would be an ideal choice who could reverse what they see as the agency's failure to adequately prevent abuses on Wall Street.

"She believes in a vigorous enforcement program and is just the right person to revitalize the Commission," Joel Seligman, an SEC historian, wrote in an e-mail.

In a speech in October, Schapiro said she has pushed for nearly 15 years for more oversight of credit default swaps, a complex and virtually unregulated financial instrument that played a role in the financial collapse.

"Clearly, our regulatory system failed to compensate for the failures of market discipline and failed to appreciate the interdependencies of financial institutions and the risks they shared," she said. "The system did not allow regulators to stay ahead of this crisis and prevent it from ever occurring."

Staff writers Binyamin Appelbaum, Philip Rucker and Anne E. Kornblut and staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

By Howard Schneider
Longshot steamrolls into the White House, erasing racial barriers in the process, rejuvenating America's image, and bringing campaign organization into the Internet age.

Is there any surprise that President-elect Barack Obama is Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2008? As the magazine says in its main essay on the incoming commander-in chief, "He hit the American scene like a thunderclap, upended our politics, shattered decades of conventional wisdom and overcame centuries of the social pecking order."

The runners-up may have offered good sport. Like Obama overhauled American politics, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. rewrote the rules of American capitalism over the last year. And just like Obama broke through a long unassailable barrier, Alaska Gov. and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin pushed the political envelope for women.

But overlook Obama for the likes of French President Nicolas Sarkozy? Nah...

President-elect Barack Obama today announced his selections for the agriculture and interior secretary Cabinet posts at a news conference in Chicago. His remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow:

Earlier this week, I announced key members of the team that will help us seek new forms of energy to build a new economy, to enhance our security, and to leave our children a planet that's safer and cleaner. Today, I am pleased to announce two other key advisors and members of this team - Governor Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture and Senator Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior. Together, they will serve as guardians of the American landscape on which the health of our economy and the well-being of our families so heavily depend.

One of the great blessings bestowed upon us as Americans is the bounty of our natural environment - from the mountains and parks where we go hiking to the rivers and streams where we go fishing to the forests and fields where the proud tradition of hunting is passed on through the generations. But our wide open spaces are not only a blessing to be enjoyed, they are the foundation of a brighter future. How we harness our natural resources - from the farmlands of Iowa to the springs of Colorado - will speak not only to our quality of life, but to our economic growth and our energy future.

It's time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way to benefit all our families. That means ensuring that even as we are promoting development where it makes sense, we are also fulfilling our obligation to protect our national treasures. It means ensuring that we are using our farmlands not only to strengthen our agricultural economy, but to grow advanced biofuels that will help make the United States energy independent. And it means ensuring that the policies being shaped at the Departments of Agriculture and Interior are designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence-peddlers, but family farmers and the American people.

That is the kind of leadership embodied by Ken Salazar and Tom Vilsack. Ken will bring to the Department of the Interior an abiding commitment to this land we love. His family has farmed and ranched the same land in Colorado for five generations. As a Senator from the great state of Colorado, he has been a champion for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities - from building a clean energy economy to setting aside 250,000 acres of Rocky Mountain National Park as wilderness.

Before serving in the United States Senate, Ken was Attorney General in Colorado, where he worked on a number of land, water, and environmental issues. As a water lawyer for a decade, Ken was also chosen to lead Colorado's Department of Natural Resources. In that role, he promoted responsible water management, balanced use of our energy resources, and built one of the most successful land conservation efforts in the nation.

Few are better equipped to meet the energy and natural resource challenges we face in the 21 st century. Among the many responsibilities Ken will bear as our next Secretary of the Interior is helping ensure that we finally live up to the treaty obligations that are owed to the First Americans. We need more than just a government-to-government relationship; we need a nation-to-nation relationship. And Ken and I will work together to make sure that tribal nations have a voice in this administration.

To lead a Department of Agriculture that helps unlock the potential of a 21 st century agricultural economy, I can think of no one better than Tom Vilsack. As Governor of one of our most abundant farm states, he led with vision, promoting biotech to strengthen our farmers and fostering an agricultural economy of the future that not only grows the food we eat, but the energy we use. Tom understands that the solution to our energy crisis will be found not in oil fields abroad but in our farm fields here at home. That is the kind of leader I want in my cabinet.

As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Tom will not only help ensure that rural America has a true partner in implementing the Farm Bill and pursuing agricultural research, but that Washington is looking out for everyone from the small family farms that are feeding our communities to the large farms that are feeding the world. When President Lincoln established the Department of Agriculture nearly a century and a half ago, he called it the "people's department" for it was meant to serve the interests of those who lived off the land. And I know it will be the people's department once more when Tom is at the helm.

With the appointments I announced earlier this week, and those I am announcing today, I am confident that we have the team we need to make the rural agenda America's agenda, to create millions of new green jobs, to free our nation from its dependence on oil, and to help preserve this planet for our children. In the end, that is not only our responsibility as Americans, it is our obligation as stewards of God's Earth.

Rep. Ray LaHood R-Ill. addressing a Republican rally at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Ill., in 2007. (Seth Perlman / Associated Press)

Updated 6:07 p.m.
By Paul Kane and Philip Rucker
Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) last night accepted an offer to become President-elect Barack Obama's transportation secretary and the nomination will be made official in coming days, two senior Democratic officials said.

LaHood, 63, who is retiring after representing a rural downstate district in Congress since 1995, becomes the second Republican tapped for Obama's Cabinet. In recent years, LaHood developed a close relationship with Obama and the man who will become his White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, becoming a key player on the House Appropriations Committee on behalf of the Illinois delegation. A moderate Republican, LaHood has not shied away from criticizing the Bush administration and has a reputation for working with leaders of both political parties.

From his perch atop the Department of Transportation, LaHood will be a key player in the new administration's public works projects designed to stimulate the struggling economy.

The grandson of Lebanese immigrants, LaHood grew up in Peoria and earned a bachelor's degree from Bradley University. He taught junior high school students in Catholic schools and later was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. He also served as a congressional aide, rising to chief of staff to then-House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.).

LaHood was elected to Congress in the Republican Revolution of 1994 and has developed a centrist voting record and a reputation as a deficit hawk. He was one of only three Republicans who did not sign former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America," according to the Almanac of American Politics. He developed national fame when he presided over the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

Kenneth P. Quinn, a former Federal Aviation Administration chief counsel who now is a partner at the Pillsbury law firm, hailed LaHood as an "outstanding bipartisan pick for the new president."

"But he's going to be facing extremely daunting challenges in the industry, particularly in aviation, to restore badly strained labor management relations at the FAA," Quinn said. "At the same time, he'll have to effectively modernize our air traffic control system and deal with very pressing competition and congestion problems."

Like Obama, LaHood has a special appreciation of President Abraham Lincoln and has been an advocate for protecting the 16th president's legacy in Congress. LaHood authored the law establishing the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which is developing plans for Lincoln's 200th birthday next year. LaHood also helped establish the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, according to his congressional biography.

LaHood and his wife, Kathy, have four children and seven grandchildren.

By Amit R. Paley
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen a veteran financial regulator as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the beleaguered overseer of Wall Street that has been pilloried for failing to prevent the global economic meltdown, senior Democratic officials said yesterday.

The selection of Mary L. Schapiro, who has served as acting chairwoman of the SEC and chief of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will make it easier for the Obama administration to merge the two agencies as part of a broad regulatory overhaul expected next year. Key regulators and lawmakers have advocated for such a move, arguing that the bifurcation of the two agencies credited to the lack of oversight that triggered the financial crisis.

Schapiro, 53, has a history of attracting support from both Republicans and Democrats. President Ronald Reagan appointed her as a commissioner at the SEC, where she served for six years. She eventually was named acting chair by President Bill Clinton; he later made her the chief of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Obama is expected to announce the choice of Schaprio, who would be the first woman to become permanent chair of the SEC if confirmed by the Senate, at a news conference tomorrow in Chicago.

Schaprio is currently the head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the non-governmental agency that is Wall Street's self-regulator, where she has worked since 1996.

Staff Writers Philip Rucker and Anne E. Kornblut contributed to this report.

In last week's Wag the Blog, we asked you to weigh in on the question of whether President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet picks were too conservative for a candidate who ran on a progressive agenda.

Earlier that week, Steve Hildebrand -- a key field general in Obama's presidential campaign -- responded aggressively to criticism from the liberal commentariat when he asked that the left dial it back and let Obama make the picks he wanted.

In the time since we wrote the post, Obama has nearly filled out his entire Cabinet -- today naming former former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as his pick to head the Agriculture Department and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as the new boss of Interior. (Both Vilsack and Salazar are moderates.)

The majority of respondents said they did not believe Obama's cabinet is too conservative although that attitude may have changed with his picks over the past week. The most insightful thoughts -- culled by post.com politics producer Sarah Lovenheim -- are below. The conversation continues in the comments section.

Uniform and Biz-Friendly Choices

"It is not too conservative for me... I am gratified that he has shown respect for the uniformed services with the Jones and Shinseki choices. Keeping Gates is what I hoped he would do. Chu is potentially a blockbuster choice. Richardson at Commerce is the most biz-friendly D Gov in America, and knows the foreign players, as well..." -- mark_in_austin

They're Not Too Conservative; They're Too Conventional

"The problem with the cabinet isn't just that it is too conservative, it is that it is too conventional. We had a chance to vote for experience in both the primary and general elections and we didn't. We voted for change. We could have gotten this cabinet by voting for Clinton - and some of them by voting for McCain. I feel like the country took a risk by voting for someone with such limited experience and we are not getting paid back for it..." --jenn1967

It's Too Early to Tell

Obama and his Cabinet have yet to take their offices; none have made a single decision or policy, thus, it's impossible to judge the political bent of Obama and his cabinet...-- txgall

The Right People, The Wrong Ideas

"It's not that Obama's economic and foreign policy appointments are too conservative, it is that they are people who were wrong on the principle issues of our time: the war and deregulation. An anti-Iraq war conservative like Hagel at defense would be better than Gates; an anti-deregulation economic advisor like Stiglitz or Galbraith would be better than Summers; etc. Obama seems to be rewarding failure and punishing success..." --thurgle

Too Conservative? Some Selections Are Left-Leaning

"While I think it is completely true that Obama's early cabinet picks all reflected a moderate standpoint (with maybe the exception of Holder as the AG), his appointments since his national security team and economic team have all been a series of left of center leaders. Think about his picks for his health care team, his environmental and energy policy teams, and his head of veteran affairs...As a progressive, I am very impressed. " -- thescuspeaks

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is not happy with Republican tactics toward President-elect Barack Obama. Photo by Dayna Smith for The Washington Post

As the Republican National Committee continues its attempt to tie disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich to President-elect Barack Obama, more high-profile GOPers are rebelling against the strategy.

Newt Gingrich (Ga.), the former Speaker of the House and a potential candidate for president in 2012, wrote a letter to RNC Chair Mike Duncan on Tuesday condemning the Web video circulated by national Republicans over the weekend that sought to link Obama to Blagojevich.

Calling the video a "destructive distraction," Gingrich added: "This ad is a terrible signal to be sending about both the goals of the Republican Party in the midst of the nation's troubled economic times and about whether we have actually learned anything from the defeats of 2006 and 2008."

His chorus of dissent was joined later in the day by Patrick Ruffini, a prominent online voice for Republicans. (Ruffini was the e-campaign director for the RNC during the 2006 election cycle and did the same for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.)

In a post on post on The Next Right (a new-ish online gathering place for conservatives), Ruffini wrote:

"It's fair to say that any residual connections Obama may have with Gov. Blagojevich as a result of being an Illinois Senator are not the strongest part of our argument. I can understand the desire to go at Obama. But with Obama at 76% approval for the transition, our hits against him have to be clean hits, or they will blow up in our face."

The sentiments expressed publicly by Gingrich and Ruffini are echoed privately by a number of Republican strategists who view the attempts to link Blagojevich and Obama as nothing more than a fool's errand given the lack of evidence that the public sees any real connection between the two men.

As we wrote earlier this week, the strategy adopted by the RNC poses a real risk to the party because of Obama's strength and Republicans' weakness in the eyes of voters.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll more than three in four voters approve of the way Obama has handled the transition and a majority (51 percent) of of independents said he had done enough to explain any conversations his aides had with Blagojevich.

Compare those solid numbers to a new national poll from Gallup that shows just one in four adults approving of the way Republicans in Congress are doing their job while 69 percent disapprove. (In fairness, congressional Democrats' numbers weren't much better: 37 approve/55 disapprove.)

So, what should Republicans do -- given that they are out of power at the executive and legislative level?

Gingrich boils it down to a single sentence: "Republicans should be eager to work with [Obama] when he is right, and, when he is wrong, offer a better solution, instead of just opposing him."

Ruffini is more expansive -- offering three solutions, the savviest of which is to push the idea that Democrats are seeking to rob voters of a say in Illinois by refusing to pass legislation that would create a special election to fill Obama's Senate seat.

The RNC may be listening. Duncan released a statement Tuesday evening on the need for a special election. "We agree with President-elect Barack Obama that his Senate seat belongs to the people of Illinois," said Duncan. "The only way the people's voice will be heard and Illinois can end the taint of the Blagojevich scandal is to have a special election."

That Republicans are in the political wilderness is without dispute. As the past week illustrates, how they get out of it remains an issue of significant disagreement.