Of course it's the Daschle one that's got the media giggling away as they hurl Kryptonite at the White House. (What, you thought they wouldn't, with Bush out? Get real.) But Geithner and Nancy K. were problems too -- and Bill Richardson. Now, being me and not a Beltway insider type, I'm thinking what Barack Hussein Obama -- and I hope he's still got the cojones to use that middle name advantageously -- needs to do is, you know, find some Democrats to head up agencies and fill White House offices in pursuit of a successful turnaround for the nation.

Step One: Get the lead out and back Claire McCaskill and that salary cap. The wingers are ripping her up one side and down the other over this, but seriously, CEO and similar-range pay is one of the reasons the banks are still not lending, despite the bailout. If the banks want to be seen as anything but bloodsucking slaveowners again, they'll come out voluntarily and make serious PR hay out of changing their executive policy so nobody in their hierarchy makes more than Obama, and none of the VPs' salaries exceed those of, say, Sen. Byrd. But since they're greedy this isn't much of a threat.
Step Two: Speak up for the need for single-payer health care, a la the VA or Medicare, to cover every American. First, this'll change the playing field so American labor is much more competitive and US manufacturing can rebound from its moribund state -- you'll get the Chamber of Commerce off your back at the same time. Delete the citizenship requirement litmus test. You live here, you're covered. You walk into a hospital here, you're covered. EMTs bring you into a hospital here, you're covered. Oh, and while we're at it, let's drive a stake through the heart of the "anchor baby" crap once and for all. Born between the Canadian and Mexican borders? You're a US citizen. Been that way since 1776, ought to stay that way forever.
Step Three: Get Social Security "privatization" off the table now. The bankers don't need their claws in the old folks' money, no matter what your Wall Street advisors want you to believe, Mr. President. That's a SAVINGS account. You want to eliminate something and still fund SocSec and Medicare? Roll all the damn 401Ks back into the SocSec/Medicare fund -- let the interest accrue to the wage-earner, and the fees fatten the funds for everybody's benefit instead of trickling out as "commissions," "loading," or "advisor overhead."
Step Four: Ignore the Republican party for the next two years. Just do it. Put Democrats in your cabinet and be seen to do so. Guys like, e.g., Howard Dean at HHS (yes, tell Rahm to STFU and behave like a grown man for a change. It'll do him good.) and John Edwards as Solicitor General or, better still, Special Prosecutor investigating the Iraq war, torture, FISA and the wholesale demolition of the Constitution and Bill of Rights as practiced by Cheney/Bush. If we can prosecute these buggers for littering (hey, it was tax evasion that sent Al Capone to prison), do so. Somewhere along the line somebody (Libby? Powell? Rice?) will squeal. No, I'm not crazy -- more like Hillary, fewer like Daschle, and your chances of a second term will rise logarithmically.
Step Five: Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine as fast as possible. Like, have somebody draft the executive order this week, and sign it before 5 pm Friday. No, this isn't vindictive. Yes, this will improve your chances of re-election. Your side, as well as Rupert Murdoch's take on everything you do (why in the name of the seven bald steers does an Australian control so much US media?) needs to be told and shown the US public, so that turnaround mentioned above has a snowball's chance of succeeding.
Step Six: last but not least do some damn background investigations BEFORE you announce appointments, hey? It's the one place you haven't come off as a world-class, polished pro in the past four months. In fact, your vetting operation looks really bad. Bad like Rod Blagojevich. Clean it up -- if you FIRE somebody over the lack of background checking, your cred will rise on the street and in the house, dude. You know that.
I expect it'll take a year to 18 months to really get things laid out.
But rescinding the bailout, demanding a vote to overturn the Patriot Acts and FISA, and undoing as much of the other damage Cheney/Bush did to our Constitutional government as fast as you can is the only way you're going to recover that rosy aroma you had three weeks ago yesterday, dude. You know, Michelle and the kids will want that back. Plus, it'll save you some gray hair.
(The key to 99.9 percent of my advice here boils down to "ditch Rahm," but you're not gonna do that, it's not your style.)