David Brooks and Gail Collins continue their dialogue at NYTimes.com/theconversation.

(Clockwise from left: Aaron Daye/The Gainesville Sun; Monica Almeida/The New York Times; Monica Almeida/The New York Times; Zach Boyden-Holmes/The New York Times)

At the end of 2006, Mode, a motion design studio in Chicago, approached Sol Sender, a graphic designer, to create a logo for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The resulting “O” became one of the most recognizable political logos in recent history. I spoke with Mr. Sender a few days after the election to discuss the evolution of his design.

Steven Heller: How did you get the job of designing the Obama logo?

Sol Sender: We got the job through Mode. Steve Juras, a classmate of mine from graduate school is the creative director there. They have a long-standing relationship with AKP&D Message and Media, a campaign consulting firm led by David Axelrod and David Plouffe among others.

Q: Have you done other political logos in the past? Read more…

More campaign-related opinion for Thursday, Nov. 20:

• Editorial: Flunking the Electoral College
  American democracy would be better off without the electoral college, and it should be abolished — beginning with popular vote laws that allow states to distribute electoral votes in proportion to the votes each candidate receives there, and ultimately by amending the Constitution.
• Nicholas D. Kristof: Obama, Misha and the Bear
  Georgia wants to join NATO, but now is not the time; the United States needs to remove its blinders toward this country and its leader, Mikheil Saakashvili, and work on strengthening its relationship with Russia instead.
• Outposts: Beggars Banquet by Timothy Egan
  The bailout is a disaster, and President-elect Obama should look elsewhere when considering where federal money goes: health care, energy, domestic economic stimulus.
• Op-Ed: What’s So Special About a Team of Rivals? by James Oakes
  Abraham Lincoln’s appointment of political rivals to his cabinet resulted in infighting. Is this really the historical precedent we want Barack Obama to follow in naming Hillary Clinton as secretary of state?
• The Opinionator: Obama’s Smoking Cure?
  If smoking cigarettes keeps President-elect Barack Obama calm in the face of all the problems this country has, then let the man inhale.
• Video: Bloggingheads — Secretary Clinton?
  Noam Scheiber of The New Republic and Ben Smith of Politico weigh the pros and cons of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
• Letters:
    – A Son of Detroit Takes on Detroit

Earlier Stops »

Sandra Tsing Loh, a writer and a performer, is the author most recently of “Mother on Fire,” a comic memoir of her struggle to find a school in Los Angeles for her child to attend. (Full biography.)

Now that we’ve made history by electing our first African-American president, what has changed? On first blush, not much, especially when it comes to our schools. Indeed, as the spiraling United States economy takes precedence, education is moving to the back burner, though sadly it was never really on the front burner during the campaign. Read more…

More campaign-related opinion for Wednesday, Nov. 19:

• Editorial: A Resounding Vote for Open Space
  Voters overwhelmingly cast ballots in favor of preserving open spaces, and it will be up to the newly Democratic Congress to carry out their wishes.

Read more…

Eric Wasserstrom is a managing director at a New York-based hedge fund and previously was an equity analyst for a global investment bank focusing on consumer lending. (Full biography.)

When Barack Obama takes office in January, he will be faced with a rapidly deteriorating economy. He’ll need to respond quickly and expansively. Although distinguishing among priorities will be difficult, one issue that he should champion is renewing the health of the banking system, specifically, he should find ways for banks to begin lending again.

This is important because the flow of credit is vital to our economic health. Read more…

More campaign-related opinion for Tuesday, Nov. 18:

• The Opinionator: The Unmaking of Lincoln’s Cabinet
  Abraham Lincoln’s decision to include former rivals on his Cabinet turned disastrous — a lesson for Barack Obama, perhaps, should he choose to name Hillary Clinton to a Cabinet position.
• Video: Bloggingheads — Beyond Joe Six-Pack
  Brink Lindsey of the Cato Institute and David Frum of the American Enterprise Institute diagnose what’s ailing the Republican Party.
• Letters:
    – Rescuing Detroit: The Great Debate
    – Welcome, Obama Republicans

Earlier Stops »

More campaign-related opinion for Monday, Nov. 17:

• Editorial: First, Tell Me Everything
  Ex-roommates and former lovers, blogs and Facebook pages: all are subject to scrutiny as the Obama administration vets potential employees. And if you’re harboring an embarrassing secret about the president-elect? Forget it.

Read more…

In this installment of Health Care Watch, Stuart M. Butler and Ezekiel Emanuel talk about what President-elect Barack Obama should and shouldn’t do on health care reform. Go to Mr. Emanuel’s post.

Stuart M. Butler is the vice president for domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, a research foundation. (Full biography.)

My fellow Campaign Stops contributor, Ezekiel Emanuel, is right that Barack Obama’s election could be transformative for health care as well as other areas of policy. Let’s hope Mr. Obama doesn’t blow it, as others have on health care — most notably Bill Clinton. Getting it done right will require Mr. Obama to keep four things strongly in mind or his honeymoon on health care will end soon. Read more…

In this installment of Health Care Watch, Stuart M. Butler and Ezekiel Emanuel talk about what President-elect Barack Obama should and shouldn’t do on health care reform. Go to Mr. Butler’s post.

Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist, is the chairman of the department of bioethics at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. He is the author of “Health Care, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America.”(Full biography.)

The election of Barack Obama is a historical transformative event. As he and his new administration wrestle with health care reform here are five points to be kept in mind.

1) “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized.” Read more…

Andrew Kohut is the president of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. (Full biography.)

Barack Obama won only 53 percent of the vote on Election Day, but he is getting a landslide greeting from the American public. Indeed, recent polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center find the public exuberant about Mr. Obama and optimistic that he will solve the nation’s problems.

A Pew post-election poll taken last weekend finds the voters giving Mr. Obama better grades for his conduct during the campaign than any presidential candidate since 1988. Seventy-five percent of the sample gave Mr. Obama a grade of A or B grade for his performance, while 24 percent gave him a C, D or F.

Source: Pew Research Center

Read more…

Joanna R. Shelton is a senior fellow at the Montana World Affairs Council and a research professor in economics at the University of Montana. (Full biography.)

The economy has dominated Barack Obama’s first few days as president-elect, just as it did during the campaign. Indeed, he held his first press conference on Friday, Nov. 6, the same day that another round of bad economic news was announced: mounting job losses in nearly every job sector, General Motors and Ford continuing to hemorrhage money and financial markets still struggling to regain their footing after the recent financial meltdown.

Despite this bad news, I feel reassured because I believe that President-elect Obama is prepared to take on the challenges America is facing. The proof: he has reached out to a proven team of advisers, moving quickly to gather them and lay the groundwork for his new administration beginning Jan. 20. Read more…

More campaign-related opinion for Friday, Nov. 14:

• Editorial Observer: Democratic Pressure on Obama to Restore the Rule of Law by Adam Cohen
  The Bush administration has strangled civil liberties and upset the checks and balances system. Can President-elect Barack Obama reform the rule of law to the Democrats’ liking?
• Paul Krugman: Depression Economics Returns
  As the economy continues to worsen, the Obama administration will have to provide a large stimulus package to homeowners and consumers or risk full-fledged depression.
• David Brooks: Bailout to Nowhere
  Democrats want to bail out Detroit, but this may just postpone the American auto industry’s inevitable decline and put additional strains on workers who will eventually be displaced no matter what.
• Domestic Disturbances: What It Felt Like to Be Equal by Judith Warner
  Gay Americans lost out on hope and change in what was otherwise a victory for the progressive agenda on Election Day as California, Arizona and Florida outlawed same-sex marriage and Arkansas barred unmarried couples from becoming adoptive or foster parents.
• The Opinionator: A Clinton in the Cabinet?
  Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama suggest that Hillary Clinton may be in the running for Secretary of State.
• The Board: What Is Everyone Reading in Washington, D.C.? The Plum Book
  A comprehensive list of government jobs that are opening as the Obama administration takes over is the talk of the nation’s capital.
• Freakonomics: Ron Paul Answers Your Questions, Part One by Stephen J. Dubner
  Congressman Ron Paul of Texas answers questions from readers about the presidential campaign and his own run for the White House.
• Letters:
    – Good for G.M., and for the Country?
    – The U.S. Must Take the Lead on Climate Change

Earlier Stops »

Scott M. Delman, the managing partner of a private equity firm, has contributed to and raised money for John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential bids. (Full biography.)

During his recent campaign, President-elect Barack Obama promoted a global vision where the United States would work more collaboratively with other leading world powers. Whether coordinating possible military action with allies or reaching understandings to arrest climate change, Mr. Obama displayed repeated enthusiasm for multilateral diplomacy and its institutions like the United Nations as he drew distinctions between his contemplated foreign policy and that of his predecessor’s.

In matters of trade and economics, however, Mr. Obama seemed far more unilateralist, rejecting several trade agreements negotiated by the Bush Administration and even threatening to review existing ones. Now, the global financial crisis has brought these competing instincts into conflict, and the emergency summit, which is scheduled for this weekend, of the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging economies may confront Mr. Obama with a set of early, immediate and uncomfortable decisions. Read more…

More campaign-related opinion for Thursday, Nov. 13:

• Editorial: The Shape of Things to Come?
  In selecting a transition team, President-elect Barack Obama has wisely avoided lobbyists and special interest groups and their money.

Read more…