Obama's first presser as President-Elect

Here's footage of President-elect Barack Obama's first press conference. (I never get tired of typing and saying President-elect Barack Obama - in a little over two months, saying President Obama will be second nature [easier for some of us than others], but for now, it's new, and I'm still reveling in Obama's victory.)

I think Obama sounded just the right tone in his first press conference. Most importantly, he emphasized that we have "one president, and that is President Bush until Jan. 20."

I'm also thankful for the 20th Amendment, the "Lame-Duck Amendment"; otherwise, we would have had to wait until March 4 for Obama to take office. And we really can't wait that long until Bush is gone. In fact, I hate it that we have to wait until Jan. 20.

There were not big surprises during the question-and-answer session following Obama's remarks, but I found this answer particularly encouraging:

QUESTION: Senator, for the first time since the Iranian revolution, the president of Iran sent a congratulations note to a new U.S. president.

I'm wondering if, first of all, if you responded to President Ahmadinejad's note of congratulations and, second of all, and more importantly, how soon do you plan on sending low-level envoys to countries such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, to see if a presidential-level talk would be productive?

OBAMA: I am aware that the letter was sent. Let me state -- repeat what I stated during the course of the campaign.

Iran's development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. And we have to mount a international effort to prevent that from happening.

Iran's support of terrorist organizations I think is something that has to cease.

I will be reviewing the letter from President Ahmadinejad, and we will respond appropriately. It's only been three days since the election. Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee-jerk fashion.

I think we've got to think it through.

But I have to reiterate once again that we only have one president at a time. And I want to be very careful that we are sending the right signals to the world as a whole that I am not the president and I won't be until January 20th.

We can only guess as to why Ahmadinejad sent Obama a note of congratulations, but if he thinks that Obama is going to be rolled over and an easy mark, he had best think again.