More details of a possible Obama administration-led auto industry bailout emerged yesterday when Politico reported that the president-elect wants a "high-profile point person to oversee reforms" attached to any financial aid.

Specifics about the proposal remain unclear. But the transition team
says Obama suggested to President Bush on Monday that aid to the auto
industry could be coupled with the appointment of "someone in charge of
the auto issue who would have the authority" to push for reforms. The
details came from a more extended readout of the White House meeting
provided Tuesday.

It will be interesting to see how this proposal plays in Detroit, where
resistance to change, even in the marketplace it serves, may be the
biggest contributor to its current predicament. In the meantime, how
might the next president balance his union sympathies and urban policy cred in the name of auto industry "reform"?