Obama will be ready to 'rule' on Day 1

By WND Staff
Published November 10, 2008 at 11:54am

Appearing on "Meet the Press" with Tom Brokaw yesterday, a co-chair of Barack Obama's transition team, Valerie Jarrett, explained Obama "is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one."

An excerpted clip of the interview can be seen below:

Jarrett assured Brokaw that while Bush is the sitting president until Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, "given the daunting challenges that we face," it's important that President-elect Obama be ready to begin his administration.

Her use of the word "rule" instead of "govern," however, triggered a response from Obama critics online.

"It's a word that reflects the worst fears that people have for Obama the 'arrogant,' the 'messiah,' that imagines he's here to 'rule' instead of govern," writes Warner Todd Huston of NewsBusters.

"Someone needs to get to Jarrett and inform her that American politicians are not Kings and do not 'rule' from office," writes Huston.

The author of the Blogs 4 McCain site, however, acknowledged Jarrett's word choice could have simply been "an innocent slip."

Jarrett has long been one of Obama's closest advisors, and CNN reported over the weekend she will be Obama's choice to replace him when he vacates the U.S. Senate to begin his presidency.