ILLINOIS GOVERNOR Rod Blagojevich has vowed to remain in office while he fights charges that he sought to parlay Barack Obama's vacant senate seat for personal gain. In a defiant statement to reporters in Chicago yesterday, the governor declared that he was certain he would be vindicated and urged the people of Illinois to be patient.
"I will fight until I take my last breath. And I'm not going to quit a job that people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob," he said.
"Afford me the same rights that you and your children have. The presumption of innocence. The right to defend yourself . . . I have on my side the most powerful ally there is: the truth. Besides, I have the personal knowledge that I have not done anything wrong."
Illinois legislators have initiated impeachment proceedings against Mr Blagojevich, who has the sole power to name Mr Obama's successor.
Democrats in the senate have insisted that they will not seat anyone the embattled governor appoints to the vacant seat.
Earlier, Mr Obama appointed the first Republican to his cabinet, naming Illinois congressman Ray LaHood as transportation secretary.
Mr LaHood's appointment, along with California congresswoman Hilda Solis as labour secretary, former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as US trade representative and Karen Mills as head of the small business administration, round off the president-elect's economic team.
"When I began this appointment process, I said I was committed to finding the best person for the job, regardless of party," Mr Obama said.
"Ray's appointment reflects that bipartisan spirit - a spirit we need to reclaim in this country to make progress for the American people."
The president-elect welcomed yesterday's announcement that the Bush administration would bail out the struggling Detroit car manufacturers with a $17 million emergency loan.
Mr Obama said, however, that the Bush administration had failed to protect workers during the past eight years and promised to change the direction of labour policy when he takes office.
"Whenever I have been asked how I measure the strength of the American economy, my answer is simple: jobs and wages. I know we will be headed in the right direction again when we are creating jobs, instead of losing them, and when Americans are gaining ground in terms of their incomes, instead of treading water or falling behind," he said.
"Daunting as the challenges we are inheriting may be, I'm convinced that our team and the American people are prepared to meet them. It will take longer than any of us would like - years, and not months.
"It will get worse before it gets better. But it will get better - if we're willing to act boldly and swiftly. And that is what we will do when I am president of the United States."
Rick Warren, the California mega-church pastor Mr Obama has chosen to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, yesterday praised the president-elect for his willingness to antagonise human rights activists and other traditional Democratic supporters.
Mr Warren is a controversial figure due to his remarks comparing gay marriage to polygamy and child rape.
"I commend President-elect Obama for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn't agree on every issue, to offer the invocation at his historic inaugural ceremony," Mr Warren said.
In an interview with NBC News yesterday, the pastor laughed off claims that he is homophobic, revealing that he gave doughnuts and water to gay activists who protested outside his church recently.