A Report Card on Obama's First Year

There are lots of talented, experienced people across the board in the Executive Branch, but almost no one has emerged as a figure of national standing to help the President convey his agenda to the public. Some aides have been limited by their lack of communication skills, others by a crowded field of overlapping jurisdictions and a shared platform. Obama will always be the center of his political universe, but he needs to put forth trusted, recognizable and authoritative voices on national security, the economy, health care and public-health emergencies. It is up to the White House to figure out who those people should be and get them ready in time for the inevitable crises of Year Two.

See pictures of 2009 Person of the Year runner-up Nancy Pelosi.