Obama likely to be inundated with job seekers

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team could receive more than 200,000 applications for a limited number of politically appointed positions in his administration, according to the former director of the White House Personnel Office under President Clinton.

Robert Nash, whose office reviewed nearly 135,000 applications in late 1992 and early 1993 for positions in the Clinton administration, expects significantly greater interest in the Obama administration.

The new administration is expected to fill approximately 8,000 appointee slots, although only half are full-time positions. Nearly 1,200 of the appointments will require Senate confirmation. The 2008 Plum Book, which lists the leadership positions available in the executive and legislative branches, was released Wednesday by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Obama will be inundated with applications from the general public, former colleagues, and members of Congress who will want coveted positions for either themselves or their friends and family, Nash predicted. Finding a way to keep everyone satisfied will be nearly impossible, he said.

"You always hear, 'Well, I've done more for the president than anyone else,' " Nash said Tuesday evening at a transition forum hosted by The George Washington University. "But you'll find that there are just not enough jobs."

Obama has encouraged potential applicants to apply for jobs directly through Change.gov, the transition team's Web site.

Tuesday's discussion served as a sober reminder that the glamour of the presidential campaign now has given way to the grueling task of creating a vast and highly complicated government in just 77 days.

"It's not surprising that a lot of presidents don't hit the ground running, but hit the ground stumbling," said Stephen Hess, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert on presidential transitions. Hess is the author of the new book, What Do We Do Now? A Workbook for the President-Elect (Brookings Institution Press).

Obama will have to use his time efficiently to manage both expected and unexpected challenges, said Edwin Meese, who served as attorney general under President Reagan. Those range from the policy-oriented -- coordinating legislation and budgeting with Congress -- to the procedural, such as how his Cabinet will interact with the White House staff.

Meese noted that "these may seem like mundane things," but if they are not dealt with, problems can multiply.

Several panelists advised Obama to learn from the mistakes of Clinton's transition and first few months in office. Most agreed that transition was disorganized, poorly conceived and included too many voices competing for attention.

William Galston, a former domestic affairs adviser to Clinton, described the administration's first few months, particularly in the days after the release of the president's first budget, as "hell on Earth." Dozens of special interest groups, angered and disappointed that Clinton had failed to deliver on a promised middle-class tax cut, took their frustrations out on White House staff, he said.

"It's extraordinarily difficult to avoid early stumbles that will have a deflationary effect," Galston said.

Sixteen years later, Obama has raised the bar on expectations even higher than Clinton did, not only with promises of a tax break for 95 percent of Americans, but with sweeping vows to rebuild infrastructure, provide universal health care and invest heavily in energy-efficient technology.

One panelist said the nation's gloomy economic conditions might actually boost Obama's ability to implement his priorities.

Alice Rivlin, Clinton's first director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the economic climate calls for Obama to spend more and tax less. And, while Clinton was consumed with driving down the size of the federal deficit in his first budget, Obama is burdened with no such concerns, at least in the short run, she said.

"I would argue that [Obama] is actually in a better position than Bill Clinton," Rivlin said.

But, Rivlin offered some advice for Obama as he prepares for his first budget: avoid the line-by-line review that he promised repeatedly on the campaign trail. Clinton "spent endless hours" on such a review, which in hindsight, she said, was an inefficient use of his time.

The George Washington University will host a second discussion Thursday examining how Obama might select his Cabinet secretaries.