Q: I was just thinking, Ken, while I was listening to Joe Trippi talk, the big question: Will Rahm Emanuel move into your office that you had when you were chief of staff for President Reagan?

Duberstein: Tammy, the corner office on the main floor of the White House, down 30 or 40 paces from the Oval Office, is the chief of staff's office, and I would assume very much that Rahm will move in that office and help direct things for President [Barack] Obama come January 20th.

Q: You probably do not envy Rahm Emanuel at this point, right, with the economy crashing and the unemployment numbers today? What advice are you giving him? Are you giving him advice?

Duberstein: Oh, I don't think Rahm needs any advice from me, but I think the most important thing to remember about chief of staff is to remember that the president is chief and you're staff...

[Laughter]

Duberstein: ... -- that what you have to do is give the president the news he needs to know, not necessarily what he wants to know. You're the person who has to say no so that the president doesn't have to. You're the person who obviously controls his calendar, his schedule, and you need to make sure that the president has the best-staffed options and keep the president on message, on target, and help direct things not only in the White House but in the whole administration on behalf of the president. And finally, what Rahm certainly will come to realize is that every time Rahm Emanuel opens his mouth, the voice people will hear is the voice of President Obama, not the voice of Rahm Emanuel.

Q: It's funny you should say that, because Larry Summers was on the "Today" show this morning. He's obviously on the short list for Treasury secretary; he doesn't have the job. But just having him on, you can just see Matt [Lauer] sweating, trying to get something out of him -- actually, it was Meredith [Vieira] just trying to get him to commit to anything, and it made me -- it reminded me just how careful you have to be to do it. But I mean, Rahm, as you know, is a very straightforward, hard-nosed, hard-edged, success-oriented kind of guy. You know, it'll be interesting to watch him maneuver.

Duberstein: But I think the judgment that people will have to make is whether or not he is committed to governing the way President Obama is interested in governing. To be an effective president you need to win those battles on Capitol Hill. I think it will be very difficult to win them just on one side of the aisle. What the American people are looking for is bipartisanship and reaching out.

If in fact Rahm Emanuel helps the president govern effectively by building bipartisan coalitions, by putting people in the Cabinet and in the White House who are not simply campaign aides but in fact there is a mix of Republicans and independents as well as a hefty dose of Democrats, then you will say that President Obama is trying to reach out and govern effectively as the American people wanted during the campaign. If Rahm Emanuel is there to help him do that and does it effectively, so much the better.

Q: So take us inside those meetings. You've been in them. You've run the meetings where you have to decide between somebody who's raised a huge amount of money for you, who's very smart, who's helped a lot on your campaign, and there's another person sitting in the corner who you don't know that well but who could clearly do a really great job as well. How do you balance all of that at once?

Duberstein: The answer is that there are a lot of jobs in the White House and a lot of jobs in the administration. You need the old Washington hands who know how to get things done, because everybody will judge you and your presidency on results and effectiveness, while at the same time you need to take care of some of your strongest supporters.

It is a little bit like the triumvirate that President Reagan created at the beginning, with Ed Meese and Mike Deaver and Jim Baker. And he made Jim Baker chief of staff, because Jim knew his way around Washington. He was comfortable with Ed Meese on the philosophy and the conservative credentials that he brought from California, and obviously he was very comfortable with Mike Deaver, as the master of stagecraft, coming with him and knowing him and Nancy Reagan so well. That is the kind of mix-and-match that I think is important in any White House and in any administration.

Q: Do you think that this is a little bit like when President Reagan won, where every single thing in Washington was up in the air? No one knew who was going to do what. And this isn't about us and what party you go to; this is about how the government's going to be run. And how do you deal with that kind of anxiety, plus all the economic issues?

Duberstein: Well, I think there is a page being taken from the Reagan playbook on transition, for the simple reason that President-elect Obama seems to be focusing, as President Reagan did, on the economy. That was the reason that he was elected. That was the reason, in part, that Ronald Reagan was elected -- to make a change in Washington and help improve our economy. I think the fact that President-elect Obama is focusing very much on a White House staff and on his economic team sends the right message that he's going to roll up his sleeves, so that come January 20th he's going to be able to hit the ground running much the same way Ronald Reagan did -- and one of the reasons why that was always viewed as the model transition -- the 1980 transition.

Q: OK, you get your staff in place; today he's going to hold a press conference. Were you surprised that he was doing this so early?

Duberstein: No, I think the more that President-elect Obama can communicate, just as President-elect Reagan did in 1980 and early '81, helps build a consensus in America for action. It lets people in on the liftoff, not just the touchdown, that he's bringing people in and accumulating all these chips by communicating with the American people and the rest of the world. I think everybody is looking for that, and I think it's a healthy dose of reality and leadership that the president-elect is standing up and being counted today.

Q: When President Reagan was elected, was there the same sort of euphoria? Maybe not in the streets -- I mean, there've been reports in New York and Washington and all over the place that people literally took to the streets in celebration of the success.

Duberstein: I think that President Reagan ended the era of Jimmy Carter, and there was great euphoria because, remember, people were talking about maybe the presidency was too big for any one person under the Carter White House.

Q: Right.

Duberstein: But as soon as Ronald Reagan was elected, during transition, all that kind of talk stopped. There was euphoria that we were taking back our government again. There was euphoria as far as dealing with the rest of the world, and there was renewed respect for America throughout the world and pride here at home. And you sense that President-elect Obama has a similar opportunity, and let's see whether or not he can take advantage of it.

Q: He has one other issue, and that is the Internet. What they've done online has been incredible, in bringing in not just dollars but ideas and letting people have a part of this election. How do you deal with that additional kind of pressure, where -- I mean, they've launched this Web site, I don't know if you've seen it...

Duberstein: Well, I think they have mastered very well the use of the Internet during this campaign. I think this campaign in large measure is the Internet campaign -- or has been this 2008. And I think it can be an effective tool for governing, but that's all the more reason why President-elect Obama and then President Obama needs to communicate regularly with the American people. The more you can communicate, the more you can explain and educate, the better off you are in getting the results that you want in Washington.

People used to say that Ronald Reagan not only was the Great Communicator but was the best lobbyist in Washington; and Ronald Reagan used to say no, the second best; the best is the person back home in your district who's voting for you, and the more I can encourage that person back home to weigh in with you, the more I can get votes the right way in Washington.

Q: You know, Ken, Ron Reagan said on this show that Nancy Reagan really likes Obama, all for the reasons you're saying: great communicator, interested in other people, interested in issues. Do you think maybe she'll come back to Washington and help him if he needs a little help?

Duberstein: Oh, I don't know about that, but I do know that Nancy Reagan is very loyal to the Reagan principles, and those principles include pragmatic governing -- that you can talk ideologically but you have to govern by results. And I know that she was such an instrumental, influential voice with President Reagan in making sure that he got victory after victory, not simply on Capitol Hill but throughout the world.

Q: Ken Duberstein, thanks for being with us.

Duberstein: Tammy, it's always great to be with you.

Q: Thank you very much.