FP: Some transition teams work closely with the outgoing president’s administration. How do you imagine George W. Bush’s people will cooperate with the newly elected president?

KD: I think what President Bush has put into place, led by [White House Chief of Staff] Joshua Bolten, is not only forward-looking but calibrated the right way. In the time of transition, a time where America has troops in active combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the possibility of terrorist acts are always present, it is absolutely important that this transition be taken without a hitch. It has to be seamless. And while any new president will be tested, this is not a time that America can let down its guard.

I think President Bush and Josh Bolten will bend over backwards to do this right to protect [the United States]. [I would imagine] a transition meeting in the White House with the incoming president-elect hopefully before the end of this week.

FP: This year in particular, both candidates have distanced themselves substantially from President Bush. Is it awkward, in transitions such as these, to work with and ask for help from someone whom you have been criticizing for the last two years?

KD: We believe in peaceful transitions in government all in our history, not only in theory but in practice. We are one America. We only have one president at a time, and how you leave center stage is very important to the ultimate verdict on you.

FP: Last week you endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the presidency. How have your fellow Republicans reacted to your announcement?

KD: I have been gratified with the overwhelmingly positive response from not simply Democrats but especially from so many Republicans who have shared with me their own personal journey towards deciding to vote for Sen. Obama. It has been a truly unbelievable outpouring. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been a few outliers, but the vast majority who have e-mailed or called me have said, “Thank you for doing the right thing.”

FP: Some people have said that they see similarities in style and message between Sen. Obama and President Reagan. Do you think the two men are alike in any way?

KD: I think Sen. Obama has campaigned on hope, not fear; optimism, not negativity; on [a belief that] America’s best days are yet ahead. [The Obama campaign has been] positive, upbeat, looking to the future, not simply the past. I think he has taken a page out of the Reagan campaign playbook.

Kenneth Duberstein is chairman and CEO of the Duberstein Group. He was chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan from 1988 to 1989.