It was with a tinge of irony and considerable professional disappointment that I learned the official policy of the Obama-Biden transition team: cut the press out of the loop.
The candidate who campaigned on a bottom-up, bring-the-government-to-the-people platform rode to victory on a groundswell of support from legions of supporters who praised his historic candidacy for its promises of inclusion and openness.
And to be sure, his operation is one of the most effective political apparatuses we have seen in recent times. Part of the key to its success: discipline.
The Obama campaign was one of few leaks, and the transition team promises to keep the same mold.
Thanks to the [Washington Post](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/07/obama_aide_instructs_policy_ad.html) for reminding us, with its reposting of this memo circulated among the transition team Thursday:
*From: Larry Strickling*
*Date: November 6, 2008 6:58:14 PM EST*
*To: itw-policygroups*
*Cc: Priya Singh*
*Subject: . . . Rerminder–Decline All Reporter Interviews and Speaking Requests*
*This is a reminder that our communications department has directed all of you, as policy committee members, to decline all requests from reporters and all speaking invitations regarding the transition, the Administration’s priorities and related issues. If you are contacted by a reporter to discuss these matters, please refer the reporter to Priya Singh at* [redacted, for courtesy’s sake]. *If you receive an invitation to speak on these issues at a conference or meeting, please decline the request. At this point in time, there is no one to whom to refer the request and do not offer to do so on behalf of the organization extending you the invitation. We realize these requirements may appear Draconian but so soon after the election, with the transition effort just being organized, it is important that no one who was involved with the campaign and the policy committees be speculating in public on these sensitive matters.*