I wish the critics would just chill. Remember the euphoria on election night when not only Barack Obama supporters but also many John McCain supporters felt good about the new direction the president-elect might take the nation, about one more barrier caused by racism that had been broken, about a leader who spoke to all of the people -- those who voted for him and those whom he had failed to sway?

We were more than ready for the campaign to end, for charge and countercharge to end and for the political dial to be muted.

That, of course, will not work for political commentators who feel that only controversy can gain an audience.

So now we read in column after column and hear in commentary after commentary, "Where's the change? All we are getting is warmed-over Clintonites."

Let me give another take on what's happening.

President-elect Obama has remained in Chicago for much of the time since his election. He is purposefully out of the spotlight. He understands and appreciates that the United States has only one president at a time. That president now is George W. Bush.

So Obama did not horn in on the G-20; he sent observers -- one Democrat and one Republican. Obama has given one interview, a very low-key interview with Steve Croft of 60 Minutes. The impression from that interview was that this was a man and a couple who have a good sense of themselves, can laugh at themselves, but also understand the seriousness of the positions which they are about to hold. No news, though it is an impression that should give the nation confidence.

Obama has stated his views on the issues that are facing the lame-duck session of the Congress. But he has resigned from the Senate, and he is not pushing his views on his former colleagues. There will be plenty of time for that when he is president and sets the agenda for the Congress. Now is not the time to begin a pitched battle with either Republicans in the Congress or the president.

The president-elect is systematically forming his White House staff. Names have been floated for some key cabinet positions. And, lo and behold, some of the names are familiar. Some even have experience in the Clinton administration. Hardly cause for a scandal and hardly reason to question Obama's commitment to changing the way Washington is working.

I think that experience is a good thing, not bad. We want people who understand how the system works and can accomplish what they set out to do without having to learn who the key players are.

That is the kind of staff that Obama is building with experienced Capitol Hill hands like his new chief-of-staff, Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel; Pete Rouse, a Colby graduate who will serve as senior adviser after a career that included service as chief-of-staff to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and to Obama himself; Phil Schiliro, who will serve as congressional liaison, having worked in key roles in both the House and Senate; and Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office who will become head of the Office of Management and Budget.

The team is not yet complete, but signs point to a style that says "Work with the Congress, not against them." Hmmm. Sounds like change to me.

Obama has talked to Sen. Hillary Clinton and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of energy under President Clinton, about serving as secretary of state. They each ran against Obama for the Democratic nomination. It's sort of refreshing to bring in someone like that.

Rumors are that Obama wants current Defense Secretary Robert Gates to remain in place. A Bush appointee whose views about the war in Iraq do not jibe with Obama's in the top job at the Pentagon? Hardly the old way of doing things.

For secretary of treasury, the top names are the politically incorrect Larry Summers, whose sole qualification seems to be that virtually everyone thinks he would best for the job, and former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and New York Fed Board President Tim Geithner. No cronies here. No political pay-offs.

Wait. I see a pattern emerging, one that critics from the right and left have missed. President-elect Obama seems intent on surrounding himself with competent people with clear qualifications to do the jobs he is asking them to do. All are strong people with well-thought-out ideas that they are not hesitant to express.

Now that is a refreshing change, one in which we might come to believe.

L. Sandy Maisel is director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College.