Interview with Eliot Spitzer from Air America's 7 Days

MARK GREEN: How do you think the President has done so far in his Transition, Inaugural Address, and first days?

ELIOT SPITZER: The transition was masterful. He has brought on board wonderfully talented, sophisticated individuals, who will be the ones day to day that will be pulling the levers of power in an extraordinarily tough moment both internationally and domestically. I think there are few transitions that have occurred at greater moments of crisis, perhaps, and none since Roosevelt has faced this sort of trauma that the nation is facing right now. He handled that with the grace and aplomb that defined his candidacy, having assumed office with an inaugural address that did not have the poetry that, perhaps, some had hoped for but had the substance that framed where we need to go. And I think in the long run that is just as important, if not more important. He has begun by setting a tone of transparency and determination. So we're off to a good start. But it'll get tougher every day as the expectation bar, that is so high, is going to be tough to match, or meet, or surpass. And the economic issues will begin to sink in and the economy is, really, still in free-fall.

GREEN: Speaking of his appointments, they've been all people of great talent but largely moderate insiders. Is that a problem or an asset?

SPITZER: It is both. And I don't say that to try to bridge the chasm that is defined by your question. To many people, what is needed now is the experience and the wisdom of having been at the vortex of power. And, certainly, you get that with a Larry Summers, and Tim Geithner, and keeping Gates at defense. Others, and I'll put myself in this camp-- were hoping for perhaps a bit more in the sense of change agents who would have looked at the last decade, 15, 20, 30 years, perhaps, in terms of the larger arc of public policy. And recognized that there were fundamental flaws in some of the policies that have been embedded in what has been done. We want some voices that will be at the top who will be the change agents that we want when it comes to domestic economic policies, environmental policies. And certainly there are some scattered in the cabinet; like Carol Browner - with an energy and environmental portfolio--there are others. But I think there will be a dynamic that emerges that requires both the talent and experience that he has brought, but also, hopefully, some of those he'll be willing to push and say a mere continuation of the trend line that we've been on.

Certainly is not what the nation needs or is hoping for.

GREEN: What would you suggest that President Obama should focus on in the next few days and weeks?

SPITZER: The economy really is the driver that he has to confront. It is what is generating the volatility in the marketplace and enormous uncertainty economically and psychologically in the nation. The economy is as much a consequence of the psychological sense of fear and concern that has gripped the nation, as anything else. His masterful skills at communication should come into play now. He should explain to the public what he's doing to rebuild the economy, and the stimulus package will be the centerpiece of that proposal, so hopefully he will, whether it's in the State of the Union or before, explain to the nation why that will jump start the economy. And there the balance has to be--I will say very clearly that the tax cut part of this is a bit unfortunate. I think that that will neither be stimulative, nor transformative. What I think the President needs to explain is how the dollars being spent will both get the economy moving, but also transform it so that we are very prepared to compete in a very different way.