Cabinet ishis first priority

After eight years of Republican rule, Barack Obama turned yesterday to the task of building a Democratic administration to lead the country out of war and into the financial recovery that he promised.

Obama planned to spend the rest of the week at home in Chicago, turning in earnest to reviewing the hiring decisions he will have to make in the next two-and-a-half months. Campaign advisers have already presented him with names to review for key positions, but they said he was not focused on filling the jobs before winning the election.

A top priority, the advisers said, would be picking a White House chief of staff to help manage the selections to come.