Barack Obama has already picked most of his Cabinet and if he wins tonight will be ready to name top posts within days as he seeks to ease into a governing role before Inauguration Day on January 20.

Unlike most previous presidential election winners, who spent weeks huddled with advisers before announcing their Cabinet and White House team, Mr Obama is anxious to hit the ground running and already has a list of key names he has decided upon.

The Democratic candidate is particularly anxious to immerse himself immediately in confronting the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and to avoid a power vacuum over the next two months as the country slides into what appears to be a deep and painful recession.

Mr Obama’s transition team has been headed by John Podesta, a Washington veteran and former chief-of-staff to Bill Clinton. One of his priorities has been discussing with Mr Obama his choice of Treasury Secretary, a key post given the current economic climate and one he is set to announce quickly if he wins.

The leading contenders to head the US Treasury in an Obama Administration are Tim Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Laurence Summers, President Clinton’s last Treasury Secretary, and Paul Volcker, who chaired the Federal Reserve from 1980 to 1987. Mr Volcker, in particular, has become an enormously influential economic adviser to Mr Obama in recent months.

It is understood that offices for a new Treasury team – be it John McCain’s or Mr Obama’s – have already been set aside in the Treasury Building to shadow the Bush Administration’s efforts to rescue the stricken financial sector.

History is also a compelling factor in Mr Obama’s desire to move quickly. During the Great Depression Franklin D. Roosevelt was not inaugurated until March 1933 – five months after election day – a period of relative inaction in which the US economy worsened significantly.

One thing Mr Obama’s aides say he is reluctant to do if he wins is attend the G20 summit of world leaders in Washington on November 15, convened by President Bush, to discuss the global economy. He is anxious not to distract attention from Mr Bush’s efforts, and is also keen not to have his hands potentially tied by involvement in an economic forum that might fail.

A President Obama would draw heavily for his Cabinet and White House appointments from a pool of Democratic governors, former Clinton White House officials and political veterans from his power base in Chicago.

The short list for Secretary of State includes Bill Richardson, a former presidential contender last year, New Mexico Governor and Mr Clinton’s former UN ambassador. Also being seriously considered is John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee and an early supporter of Mr Obama in the primaries.

Two Democratic governors who have thrived in Republican-leaning states – Janet Napolitano, of Arizona, and Kathleen Sebelius, of Kansas – are also tipped for Cabinet posts: Ms Napolitano as a possible Attorney-General; Ms Sebelius as a potential Energy or Education Secretary.

Inside an Obama White House his chief campaign strategists, David Axelrod and David Plouffe, would get senior posts. Two men are strong contenders for White House chief-of-staff: Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senate Majority Leader, and Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois congressman.

Both Mr McCain and Mr Obama are likely to keep President Bush’s Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, in his post. Mr McCain is also looking at two former primary rivals: Rudy Giuliani, the former New York Mayor, and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, for top positions.

Senator Joe Lieberman, an “independent” Democrat who campaigned tirelessly for Mr McCain, would almost certainly get a top post, possibly Secretary of State.

Robert Zoellick, the World Bank President, is another possibility for that slot in a McCain administration, or another big job. Two prominent women from the corporate world, the former eBay chief Meg Whitman, and the former Hewlett-Packard chairman Carly Fiorina, would be strong contenders for roles as advisers to a President McCain.

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