By MARSHA MERCER, Media General News Service

President-elect Barack Obama's picks for his Cabinet are reassuring because they have Washington experience -- unless they're disappointing for that very reason.

It depends on where you're standing. Inside-the-Beltway types are relieved to see a familiar cast of characters returning to power, even if they disagree with some previous policies.

WASHINGTON -- The homeless beggar near the office was smoking a cigarette and had a pack in this shirt pocket as he offered his cup for a handout.

I figured, if he's got money for cigarettes, his financial need must not be urgent.

The chief executives of the Big Three automakers flew in from Detroit on their corporate jets to beg for a $25 billion bailout.

WASHINGTON -- I usually hear from my distant cousin in Italy at Christmastime. The day after the election, though, an e-mail popped up.

"Many greetings for Obama!!" Paolo's message read.

Diann, an American friend who lives in England, e-mailed me a few days later.

WASHINGTON -- In the waning days of the campaign, one presidential candidate promised to "bring America together" to tackle tough problems.

He vowed to fix the broken politics of Washington and "inspire and unite" the country. He warned that his opponent is "out of touch with our time and out of step with the American people."

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- On a bright October morning, Laura Burkhead pinned her Obama button to her blouse and went job hunting.

Out of work since March, Burkhead has made the rounds of restaurants and shops for months, getting nowhere. She finally began to have a nagging doubt.

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- The presidential election confounds me.

Exhibit A: North Carolina, which twice handed George Bush double-digit victories and last voted Democratic for president in 1976. Is it really a presidential toss up, as the polls say?

WASHINGTON -- Now that folksy is in, I don't mind admitting that the first line of Joe Biden's latest e-mail reminded me of my grandmother.

"The McCain campaign is on the ropes," Biden wrote Wednesday.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," my grandmother used to say.

TAZEWELL, Va. -- Appalachia can be a cold country for liberals, so when word came that the Obama campaign was opening an office in town, Dee Crescitelli started driving by, just to see if it was open yet.

When the storefront opened late last month, Dee, a teacher, and her husband, Todd, a lawyer, stopped to get campaign bumper stickers and yard signs.

CULPEPER, Va. -- As a lipstick sunset painted the hills of the Piedmont, Joyce Tyree sold tickets to the junior varsity football game at Eastern View High School.