His choice for Commerce secretary is especially off message, though not one that the party's left is cheering. Throughout the campaign, Obama attacked Bush's across-the-board tax cuts and his pro-business leanings.

But he chose New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (largely because he is Hispanic?), who also cut income taxes across the board to make his state more competitive with its neighbors whose tax rates were lower. Not just for the middle class but for all income levels. He's pro-free trade, too. No wonder he is one of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's favorite governors.

Republican Ray LaHood was a surprising choice as Transportation secretary, too. Not necessarily because he was a staunch supporter of John McCain but because he has no background in transportation policy. Known as an unerring centrist in Congress, he has a reputation as a deficit hawk.

But LaHood, who has been a critic of the Bush administration, has built a strong relationship with Obama in Congress as a major player on the House Appropriations Committee for the Illinois congressional delegation. When it comes time to extract more money out of Congress for Obama's big-spending infrastructure stimulus agenda, LaHood's influence with the panel could be critical.

These and other lesser-known nominees not only reveal Obama's strong tendency toward pragmatism but also his wariness about not being seen as too liberal or too centrist. The danger in all this is that he will end up with a team of ideological rivals that has no unified political philosophy to hold the administration together as it steers its way through a storm of conflicting issues and challenges.

Perhaps the most surprising manifestation of this ad-hoc approach to the administration's top players came last week when Vice President-elect Joe Biden, chosen for his foreign-policy acumen, said he has been asked by Obama to oversee a panel to find ways to build up the middle class.

This is about as far away from foreign policy and national-security issues as you can get, and that may be what Obama's inner circle wants.

Which raises this important thought: If his administration doesn't already know how to build up the middle class just as it is about to assume power, he may be in more trouble than anyone realizes.