Amy and I watched President-elect Obama's first press conference just now, and I was struck by the fact that Obama took questions from the press and answered them, well, not only coherently, but well. Articulately. He filled you with confidence. It was amazing. The Oregonian has just posted the full text of the press conference, and I wanted to draw your attention to this section:

Q: Thank you, Mr. President-elect. With the country facing two wars and a financial crisis, do you think it's important for you to move especially quickly to fill key cabinet posts, such as treasury secretary and secretary of state?

OBAMA: When we have an announcement about cabinet appointments, we will make them. There is no doubt that I think people want to know who's going to make up our team. And I want to move with all deliberate haste, but I want to emphasize deliberate as well as haste. I'm proud of the choice I made of vice president, partly because we did it right. I'm proud of the choice of chief of staff, because we thought it through.

And I think it's very important, in all these key positions, both in the economic team and the national security team, to...to get it right and not to be so rushed that you end up making mistakes.

Cripes. Did you see how he just used a phrase, "deliberate haste," and then mused on its meaning? That it comprises two words, both of which have a distinct importance? I don't know about you, but such a moment makes me truly realize what Obama's election means, perhaps more than I did on Tuesday night. We're talking about a man who I actually want to watch on television, to see what he says, how he handles things! Somebody smart! What a relief!