Obama Warns Economy Will 'Get Worse'

President-elect Barack Obama said in Chicago that if the administration does not expedite housing measures "during the transition, it will be done by me." (By Charles Dharapak -- Associated Press)

In a transition that has emphasized continuity and harmony with the outgoing president, there were glimmers of tension yesterday, as Obama not only criticized the administration's efforts on mortgages but also tapped for his Cabinet retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, who had sparred with President Bush's top Pentagon officials over the Iraq war strategy.

Obama, appearing with Shinseki in Chicago, said veterans would be in safe hands with the general as VA secretary. "No one will ever doubt that this former Army chief of staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans. No one will ever question whether he will fight hard enough to make sure they have the support they need," he said.

Obama was also asked in Chicago about reports of Americans purchasing firearms at a more rapid pace since his election. He answered that no one should worry that he will curb gun rights as president. "Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear," he said.

"Meet the Press" host Tom Brokaw pressed Obama on a particularly personal matter: whether he had really quit cigarettes, in keeping with a promise he made to his wife at the outset of his presidential bid. Obama admitted that he had "fallen off the wagon" at times but pledged to honor the White House's no-smoking rules.

He declined to discuss whether Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, should be appointed to the Senate seat that would open once Hillary Rodham Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state. "The last thing I want to do is get involved in New York politics," Obama said.

But he mentioned that he and his wife, Michelle, have discussed opening up the White House to musicians, artists, scientists and poets.

"Historically, what has always brought us through hard times is that national character, that sense of optimism, that willingness to look forward, that sense that better days are ahead," Obama said. "I think that our art and our culture, our science, that's the essence of what makes America special. And we want to project that as much as possible in the White House."