US President-elect Barack Obama announced his No1 economic priority: Create 2.5 million jobs. That's good.

PICTURE: REUTERS

But it's typical of his correct and predictable style.

He lacks those 'oops' moments that we need from a leader to make life fun and interesting.

Take Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. He thought President-elect Obama was 'handsome, young and also sun-tanned'. Sun-tanned?

Mr Berlusconi was quickly slammed for the remark and just as quickly, he called his critics 'imbeciles'.

That is great. It is what we need from heads of state - silly statements for journalists to write about. We can use the work. There is a recession out there, you know.

All the other US presidents have said foolish things from time to time. Mr Gerald Ford was a little different. He didn't say anything. He just walked and tripped, again and again. The press was always there to snap a photo.

Comedian Chevy Chase began each Saturday Night Live TV show with an impression of President Ford sitting quietly in a chair. Then, impossibly, he would lose his balance, fall off the chair and tumble to the ground. It was hysterical.

Mr Obama does nothing like that.

He has the grace of a gazelle. Even in a suit, he looks like he could play a one-on-one basketball game with Kobe Bryant - and win.

Before becoming president, Mr Obama was a US senator from Illinois. That's the state whose governor was recently arrested for trying to sell Mr Obama's former senate seat to the highest bidder. It is a colourful state with a sleazy reputation.

Mr Obama lived in Chicago, Illinois. It is my hometown and famous for political mis-statements. The late mayor Richard JDaley filled an entire book with quotes like, 'Vote early and vote often' and 'The police are not here to create disorder. They are here to preserve disorder.'

Coming from Chicago, Mr Obama has no excuse for being so articulate.

Of course, President George Bush is a hard act to follow. He raised our expectations with quotes like: 'It's clearly a Budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.'

Another classic: 'One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.'

And I always liked: 'Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?'

Before Mr Bush was the always exciting MrBill Clinton. He explained his affair with MsMonica Lewinsky with an extended lecture on the meaning of the word 'is', as in 'There is nothing going on between us.'

Mr Clinton followed Mr Ronald Reagan, whose wife, Nancy, arranged his appointments with the help of a full-time astrologer.

Senator Hillary Clinton went even deeper into the Twilight Zone. She held imaginary conversations in the White House with the ghost of President Franklin Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor.

Then there was MrJimmy Carter. He was attacked by a 'killer' rabbit while fishing with the Secret Service. They beat it off with a canoe paddle and took photos to prove it.

Unintended comedy

Mr Richard Nixon was a master of unintended comedy. After completing a tour of the Great Wall of China, he was so impressed he told reporters: 'This is really a great wall.'

Mr Harry Truman couldn't stand criticism of his daughter's musical skills, so he wrote to music critic Paul Hume, telling him: 'Some day, I hope to meet you. When that happens, you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes and perhaps a supporter below.'

Mr Obama never says those kinds of things. He has a plodding efficiency as interesting as watching grass grow.

His only vulnerability may be his big ears. Cartoonists have picked it up, but MrObama defuses it all with self-deprecating humour. He suggested Will Smith should play him in a movie because 'his ears match mine'.

Hey, Mr President-elect, if you are going to pre-empt all the jokes, what are we supposed to do?

Mr Obama may be the best choice to run the country. But he is far from ideal for fun and controversy.

For that, the Republican team of Mr John McCain and Mrs Sarah Palin would have been wonderful had they beaten Mr Obama's team to the White House.

Can you imagine Mrs Palin using taxpayer money to buy her family designer clothes while fighting wasteful government spending?

It would have kept journalists gainfully employed through 2012.

As it is now, get used to watching grass grow. We will do our best to make it entertaining for you.