Technically, President-elect Obama is in political "no man's land". He's not a Senator anymore, and he is not the President, either. As is proper, IMO, he is focusing on what he needs in place to take his seat as President in January. What his "camp" and he say may or may not jibe, based on the date at hand at any given time. The motivation of the different stories might be lies, might be carelessness, might be ignorance. As someone once said (I forget the origin, but a character on Bablyon 5 used this quote):"Truth is a three-edged sword; yours, mine, and the real truth."