Obama's Transition: Orderly, Quiet, With A Few Early Decisions Made

If secret-keeping is a sign of success, the Obama campaign is well on its way to a solid presidential transition. Only a few details about Obama's extensive transition planning have leaked out, and even the more talkative Obama aides and advisers are keeping mum. They have an election to win.

As has previously been reported,  former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta and Obama friend Cassandra Butts at the Center for American Progress are overseeing large parts of the enterprise.

Several key aides have been tasked with supervising the filling of what's known in Washington vernacular as the "top 100" political positions in the new administration.

Michael Froman, a Harvard Law classmate of Obama's who served in the Treasury Dept. as Robert Rubin's chief of staff, is a key member of the team, as is Chris Lu, who most recently served as Obama's legislative director in the Senate.

Other aides are liaising with the FBI, which has begun background checks on potential White House and national security appointees from both campaigns, and the General Services Administration, which will landlord some prime DC real estate -- the location is unknown -- for the transition team to move in.

About a dozen Obama campaign aides and advisers declined to comment on the transition planning. Many senior political aides have asked not to be put into the loop in order to focus on their day jobs.

Obama is expected announce a few key decisions within a week or two of being elected.

The identity of his nominee for  Secretary of the Treasury will be disclosed in short order.  Former Harvard President Larry Summers and New York Federal Reserve Board president Timothy F. Geithner are possibilities.

The foreign policy establishment expects Obama to announce that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will stay at his post for an extended but definite period of time to manage the transition into Afghanistan and out of Iraq, but it's not clear whether Obama has accepted this collective recommendation.

Obama will also name his national security adviser; the identity of this person is not known, although Washington national security hands believe that Gregory Craig, a former senior national security lawyer in the Clinton administration is the frontrunner, although others point to Susan Rice, a former Clinton NSC staffer, as a possibility.