CLEMSON — With less than two months before Barack Obama’s administration takes over in Washington, America appears to be vexed.

While there is an apparent sense that the nation may have two presidents until January 20, some folks would argue there doesn't appear to be anyone in charge.

While people battle economic quicksand, their understanding of whom to look to for relief is skewed, according to Dave Woodard, political science professor at Clemson University.

While Bush is saddled with responsibility for the crisis, he appears reluctant to act on some fronts, even though he still has the power to do so, according to Woodard. Obama, on the other hand, is bursting with energy and ideas but lacks the authority to move any mountains until January.

Some feel Bush's only recognizable steps the last few months have amounted to signing off on bailout bills and riding on the winds created by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, he noted. Even though opinions on a Big Three bailout differ throughout the nation, the current administration isn’t jumping too fast on the train. It did, however, act to bail out the mortgage-backed banks that boiled over as a catalyst for the current economic crisis.

So, what will likely happen over the next few weeks?

Woodard said he thinks Bush is being a “generous lame duck” toward Obama because of his traumatic entrance into the White House in 2000.

“That election left a bitter taste in Democratic mouths and meant that departing Clinton appointees took the letter ‘W’ off of their computer keyboards,” he said. “Bush has promised better, and I think he will oblige.”

And as previous lame ducks have left their own imprint behind, Woodard agreed that the Bush imprint will not be that of "the worst lame duck in history."

“The worst was Herbert Hoover,” Woodard said. “He asked Roosevelt to join him in declaring a bank holiday because the country was on the verge of financial panic and chaos.”

For Roosevelt, it seemed like a ridiculous way to work toward a solution, so he declined which, inevitably, angered Hoover, Woodard noted. “At that point, Eleanor Roosevelt politely intervened to say, ‘It’s been very pleasant, but we must go now.’”

America's current vexation apparently isn't a first.