BEDFORD HEIGHTS, OH – Will he give up the blackberry or won’t he? That’s one of the (not relatively speaking) big questions facing President-elect Barack Obama as he is set to take office next week.

At a recent press conference he told reporters he fired off an email to one of his Secret Service detail leaders to congratulate his son for winning a football championship game, but presidents have not traditionally used email – even those in the email age. But Mr. Obama has been hesitant to give up the crackberry, thinking it will isolate him from the real world.

Well, four days from his inauguration, President-elect Obama is still using the device. As he was getting out of his Secret Service limo at Ronald Reagan airport today, reporters caught a glimpse of the storied blackberry when it tumbled from his grasp onto the tarmac.

A Secret Service agent standing nearby quickly picked up the blackberry, which had separated from its plastic holster, and returned it to the president-elect. Clutching it tightly, he soon boarded the plane which would ferry him to Cleveland for a speech on the economy.

On board incoming press secretary Robert Gibbs joked with reporters that Mr. Obama has been “discombobulated” due to the recent move to Washington, DC. “He can’t seem to find anything.”

CHICAGO – Barack Obama and Joe Biden will meet tomorrow with former Vice President Al Gore at the President-elect’s transition offices in Chicago. The meeting, confirmed by the Obama-Biden transition team, was set up so the trio could “discuss energy and climate change and how policies in this area can stimulate the economy and create jobs.”

Of course it’s also fueling speculation that Al Gore will be asked to return to government after eight years as an influential statesman – despite Mr. Gore’s attempt to downplay the notion. “Vice President Gore has said both prior to President-elect Obama being elected and since he’s been elected that he does not have an interest in serving in the administration,” Kalee Kreider was quoted in a Reuters story just last week.

While Barack Obama may have a tough sell, expect a pitch of some sort. When asked last April by a Pennsylvania voter if he would consider the former veep for a cabinet-level position to help deal with climate change, then Candidate Obama replied, “Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem.”