THE TRANSITION: DOWN TO THE 'SHORT LISTS'

"It's getting serious now," said a top aide last week as Jimmy Carter neared the final stages of his great talent hunt. But the President-elect did nothing to end the guessing game about who would get which job in his Administration. He shared his thoughts with only a tight circle of advisers, notably Hamilton Jordan and Vice President-elect Walter Mondale. Not even his closest aides could be certain which way Carter would go in the end. As one of the President-elect's confidants said, only half-jokingly:...