In a hasty and wise bit of damage control, president-elect Barack Obama quickly telephoned former First Lady Nancy Reagan this afternoon to apologize for "a careless and offhanded remark" he made about her this morning during his first post-election news conference.

Obama was asked how he was preparing to take over the White House, what books he's reading, if he'd talked to any ex-presidents. He replied:

"In terms of speaking to former presidents, I've spoken to