WHILE Barack Obama was running for the US presidency, he must have been told time and time again that no-one ever said that it was going to be easy. The job is too high-profile and the opportunities for snafus are almost limitless - and then there are the courtiers who are more than capable of dumping on their boss by thoughtless word or action. And so it has proved: scarcely a fortnight after his scintillating election victory and two months before he even sets foot in the Oval Office, Obama has suddenly discovered some of the pratfalls that await him.
The villain of the piece was the man he should trust without a second thought: his newly-appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. To be fair to the dancer-turned-political-enforcer, he didn't do the damage - his dad did it for him. In an interview with an Israeli newspaper, Emanuel senior informed the reporter that his son would use his influence as the presidential fixer to ensure that Obama toed a pro-Israeli line. Then he added to the shining hour by saying that his son wasn't an Arab "mopping floors at the White House".
Leaving aside the fact that it ill becomes an educated grown-up like Benjamin Emanuel to make such a foolish and hurtful remark, the episode has enraged the Arab world and reinforced existing fears that the Obama administration will not be objective in its dealings with the Middle East.
To make matters worse, the Emanuel clan already has form in that respect - not only does it have its roots in Israel, but as a young man Benjamin Emanuel was involved with the Irgun terrorist group which was responsible for killing 91 people in the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946.
History itself doesn't mean that Rahm Emanuel will pursue a pro-Israel policy come hell or high water - he apologised immediately for the offence his father caused - but it does colour perceptions about how he might react.
Other factors also intrude - he practises the Jewish faith and served for a time in the Israeli Defence Forces. But those who know him say that he is very much his own man and is ferociously independent. If anything, they say, Emanuel is more likely to be impatient with the Israeli right and will give them a hard time should there by any back-sliding or prevarication during negotiations. Not for nothing is he known as "Rahmbo the enforcer".
More alarming might be his earlier relationship with the troubled public mortgage utility Freddie Mac and there are some awkward question marks over the source of much of the private funding for Obama's election campaign - hedge funds, that kind of thing. However, Emanuel is unlikely to be over-troubled by either connection and his sharp elbows will keep the inquisitive at bay. One thing is undeniable: he will be the perfect door-keeper and his bad cop approach will balance the president-elect's effortless good cop style.
Getting the other choices right will also create headaches, especially if Obama makes good his promise to include Republicans in his team. We'll get a better idea after tomorrow, when he meets up with John McCain in Chicago to talk bipartisanship, a move that has already fanned hopes that the Republicans will have a healthy representation in the president-elect's 14-strong cabinet. There have even been rumours that the beaten candidate himself will be rewarded with the Department of Homeland Security but that might be akin to giving the fox the free run of the farmyard.
It's probable that Obama will ask Robert Gates to stay on as Defence Secretary and invite Chuck Hagel to become his Secretary of State. The Nebraska senator fought in Vietnam and was seen at Obama's side when he visited Iraq and Afghanistan during the summer. He would be a popular choice not just for his diplomatic experience but also because he was an outspoken critic of President George W Bush's disastrous foreign policy.
Other possibilities from the Republican camp for this coveted post are Richard Lugar, an expert on nuclear issues, and Jim Leach, who is representing Obama at this weekend's G20 summit. And, of course, there is the old war horse Colin Powell, who served Bush in that role and who is still smarting about being forced to take most of the blame for what went wrong in Iraq.
Creating a bipartisan cabinet is not a new idea. Among those serving in John F Kennedy's cabinet during the Camelot years were Robert McNamara at the Pentagon and Douglas Dillon at the Treasury, and neither were known as Democrat sympathisers.
But, as Obama is finding when he considers his own Republican options, it's a tough call. Choose too few and he will be accused of tokenism; choose too many and there will be whispers that the Democrats can't cut the mustard.
