Politics / Barack Obama Green Economy Will Be Obama's First Big Challenge No easy task to convince Congress to sacrifice its own self-interest By Gabriel Winant, Newser Staff Posted Oct 30, 2008 9:53 AM CDT Copied Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, D-Del., left, and Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., right, wave during a rally in Sunrise, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) See 1 more photo What’s on the front burner for a hypothetical Obama administration? Most of Washington seems to be jockeying for spots in the Cabinet, but Joe Klein of Time points out that Barack Obama (or John McCain) will be the first president since FDR to inherit neither peace nor prosperity. Obama’s top priority, “a government-propelled transition to an alternative-energy economy,” addresses both. Legislatively, a transition like that will look like a big stimulus package. "There is a back-to-the-future quality to this," Klein writes of the likely $300 billion undertaking. "It's what used to be derided as big-spending liberalism." And it entails seriously limiting earmarks. “I know one huge ally Obama would have on this," says one campaign-finance expert. “John McCain.” (More Barack Obama stories.) See 1 more photo Report an error