Still weeks to go, but America tunes into Obama as Bush fades from view

Power drains from the White House and Obama's stature continues to rise as he takes to the airwaves for first radio address

• Paul Harris in New York
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday November 9 2008 00.01 GMT
• The Observer, Sunday November 9 2008
  

As George Bush sits in the Oval Office, perhaps the lamest of all lame ducks, Barack Obama is looking presidential for the press, fielding calls from world leaders and mulling appointments to his new cabinet.

Yesterday, Bush's weekly radio address to the nation was answered directly by the man who will replace him in January. In most weeks the Democrats' response to Bush's musings is given by an up-and-coming politician or someone who highlights a particular issue. But this time Obama himself took to the airwaves.