Obama's real challenge starts now

Inter Lake editorial

The 2008 election is now history, but it remains to be seen how history will judge it.

Clearly, the election of Barack Obama is a watershed moment in the annals of American politics, and no one should underestimate his considerable accomplishment in becoming the first black president.

But going forward, he has the chance to be either the first successful black president or the first unsuccessful black president. That is more important than anything he has achieved up till now. Future generations, in other words, will judge him - and us - not on his election, but on his results.

It does not need to be emphasized that these are perilous times, both economically and from a security point of view. It also should be obvious to everyone that there is no such thing as a "post-partisan" America.

Winning an election is not a mandate to ban the opposition. Republicans don't just go away, and neither do their beliefs. So we should expect vigorous debate of any and all proposals put forth by President Obama. Ideas, after all, will continue to matter in a world where Obama is president, just as they mattered during the Bush and Clinton presidencies and indeed back to the days of the Founding Fathers. To think otherwise is slightly Orwellian. Big Brother cannot tolerate criticism, but we hope any U.S. president can.

Certainly, for now, the new president will have a traditional honeymoon, as he should. He won by a large margin and has inspired the nation to seek a better future. But whatever honeymoon Obama is given by the Democratic Congress and the American people, it should come with this warning - the more extravagant the honeymoon, the bigger the bill.

Campaign promises to increase spending in education, health care, alternative energy and a host of other programs should be tempered by the knowledge that the economic pie is shrinking. Campaign rhetoric about reducing military spending should be tempered by the knowledge that the United States has real enemies, and real responsibilities.

The new president recognizes the challenges. As he said in his inspirational victory speech Tuesday, "Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime, two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century."

It is to be hoped that in governing, President Obama will always put country first, and party second. If he does, then perhaps he will live up to his great ambition - "to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one."