Obama seeks 2.5 million jobs by 2011

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By Christina Bellantoni

President-elect Barack Obama has asked his economic team to draft a plan to save or create 2.5 million jobs by 2011 and on Saturday announced the leaders of his White House press team.

The Democrat told the nation in his second weekly radio address Saturday morning he has "already directed" members of the team to craft an economic-recovery plan, saying it should be "big enough to meet the challenges we face" and that he intends to press Congress to pass it so he can sign it after taking office.

His remarks, taped Friday, will be posted on the transition Web site and YouTube page, Change.gov. His first address was viewed more than 890,000 times on YouTube.

Mr. Obama formally named his longtime aide and close adviser Robert Gibbs as press secretary Saturday, along with two top members of the White House communications team. Mr. Gibbs, well-liked by reporters and a frequent traveler on the Obama campaign plane, started working with Mr. Obama during his run for the U.S. Senate in spring 2004.

The long-anticipated move caps two years of Mr. Gibbs' acting as one of the key spokesmen for the Obama campaign. He was a regular guest on morning political shows and held his own against combative television hosts.

As press secretary, Mr. Gibbs, 37, will be the face of the Obama administration, meeting the press each day and pushing and defending the president's policies from the podium. When Mr. Obama toured his future home recently, Mr. Gibbs huddled with President Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino.

His 5-year-old son, Ethan, sometimes was spotted on the trail, and often bragged that one of the best times he had this year was when Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, baby-sat him during their vacation in Hawaii.

Mr. Gibbs is a native of Auburn, Ala., who now lives in Alexandria. He has worked on many campaigns and for several politicians.

The transition team also announced that Ellen Moran would be director of communications and Dan Pfeiffer, 32, would be deputy director of communications.

Miss Moran is executive director of Emily's List, a native of Amherst, Mass., and has worked for the Democratic National Committee, the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She also worked on Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin's 1992 presidential bid and helped plan two presidential inaugurations for Bill Clinton.