Barack Obama Focuses Domestic & Reshapes White House

President-elect Barack Obama has finished building a cabinet of prominent and strong-willed players on Friday, but he is putting together a governing structure that will concentrate more decision making over his top domestic priorities in the White House.

With new offices in the White House to coordinate health care, urban policy and energy initiatives, Mr. Obama has signaled that he intends to keep real power over domestic issues close at hand. The collective moves shift the political center of gravity farther away from the cabinet, a trend that has accelerated under presidents of both parties in recent years.

At the same time, Mr. Obama’s reorganization suggests a willingness to tolerate, and even encourage, competing power centers within his administration, but it is unclear how that will work in practice. Not only is he creating new positions with authority over key areas, he is filling his West Wing with people of stature equal to or even greater than the members of his cabinet, including two former cabinet officers and a former Senate majority leader.

David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, said issues like health care and energy “are so fundamental to our ability to right the economy in the long term that he knows he’s going to have to drive a lot of that. And he wants a high-powered staff in the White House to help him do that.” Complete coverage here

Read new public website of Obama

Barack Obama had a formidable online presence during his quest for the White House, and he is once again turning to the Internet to communicate with the American public as president-elect.

Within 24 hours of last week's historic vote, his transition team rolled out change.gov, a Web site that promises to be "your source for the latest news, events and announcements so that you can follow the setting up of the Obama administration." The site is still a little thin on content, but there's a blog, a newsroom and a countdown to the January 20 inauguration.

Visitors can fill out a form to share their stories about what the election meant to them, or they can give their vision of an Obama presidency. They can even apply for a job. The Web site is an extension of Obama's online strategy during the campaign. As a candidate, he had four times as many friends as his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, on MySpace.com. Obama had almost 3 million supporters on Facebook and put together a massive database of e-mail addresses -- some 10 million. Obama even announced Sen. Joe Biden as his choice for vice president in a text message to supporters....Click to read full post

Illinois hopes 'Obama buzz' will boost tourism

Tourism officials in Illinois say they expect a boost from Barack Obama's election, and they're doing what they can to capitalize on the Obama buzz.

A Chicago tourism Web site invites travel-planners to "experience the city the Obamas enjoy." The Illinois Bureau of Tourism plans to launch a three-day getaway featuring Obama sites. And in Springfield, tour guides at the Old State Capitol may get new scripts.

Catherine Williams volunteers as a Chicago Greeter for Chicago's tourism office. She leads walking tours and gets visitors as close to the Obamas' Hyde Park home as the Secret Service will allow.

A hand-lettered sign in one Chicago bookstore window congratulates "longtime customer" Obama. A nearby restaurant has sold 3,000 T-shirts that read "Obama Eats Here." For more click here