According to the AP yesterday, the White House said that after months of staying out of the 2008 election - often enduring a pummeling and host of accussations from Obama - it would soon start speaking up to defend Bush's record on education, energy, the economy and other issues. The focus will be Bush's legacy.
During the campaign, Obama relentlessly attacked the Bush administration for what he called, "failed, tired policies that have harmed the country". The White House has sought to make clear that politics will not affect the transition in any way.
Sources inside the White House say that Bush has mentioned several scenarios which could ultimately postpone the swearing in of President-elect Obama.
Described as a delicate dance in which the White House keeps the president-elect in the loop, and even solicits his input, in the end, the decisions remain solely the president's.
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security caution that the U.S. is in a heightened state of alert against terrorism. The fear is that enemies could exploit the transition period to test the country's defenses, as Bush himself warned.
No specific threat has been presented to the public.
"We face economic challenges that will not pause to let a new president settle in," Bush told a gathering of hundreds of employees from the presidential bureaucracy, gathered on the back lawn of the White House.
"This will also be America's first wartime presidential transition in four decades," he said. "We're in a struggle against violent extremists determined to attack us, and they would like nothing more than to exploit this period of change to harm the American people."
"We must keep our attention on the task at hand, because the American people expect no less," Bush directed the executive employees. Preparation for the complex transfer of power has quietly been unfolding for about a year. It accelerated with the possibility of a democratic victory in November.
When contacted to respond, the White House had no comment.
