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Chicago: Barack Obama appears to be enjoying his last few weeks of pondering America's problems without being held accountable for them.
The president-elect teased reporters and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, his choice for commerce secretary, during a brief, lighthearted news conference on Wednesday. It stood in sharp contrast to Monday's event, where a solemn Obama was flanked by six grim-faced appointees, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, slated to be secretary of state.
On Wednesday, he looked like a man with a load off his shoulders.
In introducing Richardson, he indulged in jokes and smiles that were absent from his earlier news conferences. He pretended to doubt his own statement, interjecting, "I've got to check that statistic!" after saying Richardson once set a campaign record by shaking nearly 14,000 hands in eight hours.
He teased one reporter, saying: "I was not going to call on you again," and then added a personal touch when he invited the first question. "Let's start with Julianna Goldman from Bloomberg, who was one of the originals, by the way. She was there every step of the way during this campaign," Obama said.
When a reporter asked the clean-shaven Richardson what had become of his beard, Obama insisted on answering.
"I think it was a mistake for him to get rid of it," he said, clearly enjoying ribbing his latest Cabinet choice. "I thought that whole western rugged look was really working for him. Maybe because it was scratchy when he kissed his wife, he was forced to get rid of it. But we're deeply disappointed."
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