Thumbs up for the president-elect Barack Obama

Las Vegas: Barack Obama may have rewritten American history and coaxed tears of joy from Oprah Winfrey on election night, but on Friday he was just another option on the big TV screens at the Freakin' Frog saloon in Las Vegas during lunch hour.

Here, and around the nation, Americans had a chance to watch president-elect Obama as he held his first news conference in that capacity.

His chosen topic - the dangerously sputtering economy - was guaranteed to dissolve any lingering post-election euphoria.

For worker Gary Tognetti, that was just as well. "It's important for Americans to be pragmatic," Tognetti, 32, said as he tended to a cheeseburger on the grill. "He doesn't have a red cape with an 'S' on the chest. He can't save the world."

That was an implicit message that Obama seemed to be sending in his brief news conference, broadcast live from Chicago. Speaking publicly for the first time since his victory speech, Obama was businesslike in tone and largely grave of mien.

The demeanour struck many observers - both supporters and sceptics - as on-target.

Tognetti, who served as a state and county delegate for Obama during the Democratic primary, hoped that Obama's serious attitude and frank talk about the nation's problems would help Americans attenuate their expectations of the man.

Cynicism

"I know some people put away their cynicism during the election, and I hope they don't become cynical again if he doesn't move mountains - which he won't," Tognetti said.

That sense of adjusting to realities permeated Dojo, the Asian restaurant on the campus of New York University. "Anyone with any grasp of the issues understands there is no way he can live up to all of the promises," said Rich Kelleman, 38.

Obama began: "This morning, we woke up to more sobering news about the state of our economy. The 240,000 jobs lost in October."

A crowd gathered around the TV, including a man in a military-style jacket with an Obama button pinned on it. "We've done good, huh?" he said to a woman standing next to him. "I love him," she replied.

The love, and the ecstatic buzz over Obama's victory, was palpable in other pockets of the country, as well, like Auburn Avenue, the historic Atlanta street where the Rev Martin Luther King Jr's body lies next to his former church. Obama posters were still up in many of the small storefronts, including the Silver Star Barber Shop.

Jarae Middleton, a black Obama supporter, was waiting for a trim there Friday afternoon, and watching Obama's delivery carefully. Middleton said he still had trouble processing the fact that a black president-elect was addressing the nation.

Surreal

"It's kind of surreal," said Middleton, 26, who works in marketing. "It's like seeing Morgan Freeman in the movies."

When Obama finally walked to the podium, a few minutes late, the friendly undercurrent of barbershop banter ceased instantly. All eyes were on the man on the flat-screen TV.

The faces of the barbers reflected Obama's seriousness - after all, they said, their cash-strapped customers are waiting longer between cuts these days.

They chuckled happily, however, when Obama, who is biracial, talked about the dog he would like to get for his girls - a dog from the pound, he said, a "mutt like me".

"Oh, they're going to use that one on the headlines," Middleton said, smiling.

At Jerry's Famous Deli in West Hollywood, California, that charm won over at least one Obama sceptic.

Real estate agent Tom Gilleran, 72, said he voted for McCain mostly because he disagreed with Obama's take on national security issues.

After the news conference, however, Gilleran said Obama showed "a lot of spark, a lot of humour and a lot of humanity".

"America is going to get through this," he said. "He sounds pretty moderate - I think he'll be pretty reasonable."