President-elect Barack Obama wasted little time in establishing his authority by holding a news conference Friday in Chicago that looked just like a presidential news conference. Of course, Bush has had so few, many people have probably forgotten what they actually look like!

The sign on the podium in front of Obama read Office of the President-elect–not even sure there is such a thing…certainly not in the Constitution. But he was, I think, making an important point.

While he is smart enough to say that there is only one president and, right now, that happens to be W., what matters, as Ronald Reagan’s media advisers well knew, is what information the pictures convey.

With a small army of grim looking economic advisers–and the Vice-President -elect (is there an office for that???) behind him against a curtain of American flags, Obama looked and sounded more presidential than the current occupant of the White House. Of course, Obama speaks English and Bush doesn’t.

Then this morning, Obama took to the airwaves again…this time, a radio address. Again, he sounded more presidential than Bush, who delivered his weekly radio address today as well.

It is a tricky thing Obama is trying to pull off–appearing, acting and sounding like the President, while saying publicly that he is not…..yet!

But, for better or worse, Obama has proven to be a master at illusion–of making people think he is whatever it is they want him to be at the moment.

Right now, election day showed, they want to think of him as President!

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