So far, so good. According to the USA Today / Gallup poll, more than three quarters of the country express approval for Obama's conduct during the presidential transition. Sixty-nine percent approve of his selection of Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State. More - 80 percent - support his decision to retain Bob Gates at the Defense Department.

In other Obama numbers news, NBC's First Read has examined the Georgia Senate runoff results and notes that, without Obama's name on the ballot, Saxby Chambliss increased his margin of victory from 3 points on Election Day to 14 points on December 2.

"How many House or Senate Democrats," asks First Read, "who believe they won because of Obama coattails - especially in states like Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia - saw the run-off result and said, 'Uh, oh. 2010 is going to be tough'?" Point taken, but let's not forget that folks like Mark Warner, Kay Hagen, and the Udall cousins in Colorado and New Mexico all ran ahead of, or even with, Obama.