Barack Obama in Treasury post dilemma

Washington: Barack Obama is wrestling with "backbiting" and clashing egos in his hunt for a Treasury Secretary to help him pilot the US out of economic meltdown.

Disagreements among senior Democrats and members of his team over who he should pick has given the President-Elect a wake-up call about the partisan waters he now has to navigate, according to those familiar with the discussions.

Obama used a national radio address on Saturday to reiterate his support for a $100 billion (Dh367 billion) "rescue plan for the middle class" and warned: "We are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime."

But despite the hopes of some aides that he would be able to name a Treasury Secretary in the first few days after the election, Obama has found that he has to spend longer considering his decision after aggressive lobbying for the main candidates.

Steven Clemons, senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a centre-left think tank, said "policy and personality battles" have broken out over the Treasury and defence portfolios, as well as the selection of a Secretary of State, the senior foreign affairs post.

Frayed nerves

"Tension, backbiting, and jostling for position is fraying the nerves of many who are highest on the list of candidates Obama is considering for senior positions," he said.

Time is pressing. The US economy shed 240,000 jobs in October and sales by the big three car manufacturers slumped by 32 per cent. But Democrat power brokers are split over the two frontrunners for the Treasury job.

Lawrence Summers, who held the post under Bill Clinton, has influential support and is also pushing hard for the job. But he is blamed by many for the deregulation which contributed to the Wall Street collapse.

Feminist groups are horrified by his record as president of Harvard, where he suggested that women were inherently less good at maths than men.

Many in Obama's team believe the best choice for Treasury Secretary would be Timothy Geithner, the head of the New York Federal Reserve bank, who played a key role in formulating the recent bailout package and is seen as a non-partisan figure.