'Immediately after I become president, I'm going to confront this economic crisis head on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.
'In total, we've lost nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, and more than 10 million Americans are now unemployed. Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their homes. Their stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, and we're going to have to act swiftly to resolve it.
'I want to see a stimulus package sooner rather than later. If it does not get done in a lame-duck session (of Congress), it will be the first thing I get done as president of the United States.'
Auto industry
'I have made it a high priority for the transition team to work on additional policy options to help the auto industry adjust.
'The news coming out of the auto industry this week reminds us of the hardship it faces.
'The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing and a critical part of the attempt to reduce dependence on foreign oil. I would like to see the administration do everything it can to accelerate the retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted.'
Iran
'I am aware that the letter (by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulating Obama on his election victory) was sent. Let me repeat what I stated during the course of the campaign. Iran's development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. And we have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening. Iran's support of terrorist organisations I think is something that has to cease.
'Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee-jerk fashion. I think we've got to think it through.'
Obama's administration
'I'm confident that we're going to have an outstanding team, and we will be rolling that out in subsequent weeks.
'I want to move with all deliberate haste, but I want to emphasise 'deliberate' as well as 'haste'. I'm proud of the choice I made of vice-president, partly because we did it right. I'm proud of the choice of chief of staff, because we thought it through.
And I think it's very important, in all these key positions, both in the economic team and the national security team, to get it right and not to be so rushed that you end up making mistakes.'
President George W. Bush
'The United States has only one government and one president at a time. And until January 20 of next year, that government is the current administration.
'I'm not going to anticipate problems. I'm going to go in there with a spirit of bipartisanship and a sense that both the president and various leaders in Congress all recognise the severity of the situation right now and want to get stuff done. And, you know, undoubtedly there may end up being differences between not just members of different parties, but between people within the same party.'
White House dog
'With respect to the dog (Mr Obama promised his daughters during the campaign), this is a major issue. I think it's generated more interest on our website than just about anything.
'Malia is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic. There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic. On the other hand, our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but, obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me. So whether we're going to be able to balance those two things I think is a pressing issue on the Obama household.' -- AFP