Obama team treads fine bipartisan line

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Barack Obama's transition team has been doing well in developing friendly, bipartisan relationships before he takes office in January, Republicans say.

Transition team members traveled to Capitol Hill to seek GOP support for the president-elect's economic recovery and plan to naming Timothy Geithner, who has worked with U.S. President George Bush administration's team, as his nominee for Treasury secretary, The New York Times reported.

"I'd say, so far so good," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a member of the Republican leadership team. "If he follows through on that, he'll find plenty of Republicans willing to help him."

Republicans said Obama's White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's visits to Congress sent a good, bipartisan vibe.

"I think the new administration is off to a good start," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "This is an opportunity to tackle big issues and to do them in the middle."

Liberals and progressives, however, said they feel ignored by Obama's proposed nominees and positions, the Times reported.

Chris Bowers, a writer on the OpenLeft.com blog, complained that the foreign policy lineup -- headed by the selection of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., as Obama's secretary of state nominee -- was right of center.

"I feel incredibly frustrated," Bowers wrote recently. "Progressives are being entirely left out of Obama's major appointments so far."