My favorite rumor about U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is that he will create the post of Secretary of the Environment and offer it to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, it's unlikely that Schwarzenegger would take the offer, because being governor of California is a much more satisfying job, but Obama will need a couple of Republicans in his Cabinet and Arnie is serious about the environment. Stranger things have happened.

With both presidential candidates essentially running against George W. Bush, the one who wasn't a Republican started with a huge built-in advantage, and then the financial crisis and the recession sealed John McCain's fate. So now it's time to consider what Obama will do with his power — and even how much power he will really have, given that his spending options will be severely constrained by that same recession.

It helps that the Democrats will have firm control of both houses of Congress, of course, but Obama will benefit even more from the fact that he is probably going to enjoy one of the longest honeymoons in presidential history. Americans, including most of those who didn't vote for him, are going to be immensely pleased with themselves for having elected an African-American as president.