U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's historic journey to the White House reaches its successful end on Tuesday when he takes oath of office as the new president, but he will face a rougher road filled with expectations, hopes and challenges.
Even before his presidency begins, Obama has been written into history for his unique power in the presidential campaign to inspire and energize millions of Americans to congregate under his banner of "changes we believe."
His honeymoon continued after the Nov. 4 election when he defeated Republican rival John McCain not only in the blue states but also in some traditionally red ones.
FROM PROMISE TO PRACTICE
A recent national poll showed that Obama's approval rating had risen to nearly 80 percent, revealing people's satisfaction with his work in the transition of power, establishment of his cabinet, as well as high expectations of his administration after Jan. 20.
However, to maintain and strengthen the goodwill, Obama has to live up to what he has promised in the campaign, including changing the culture in Washington, D.C., bipartisan cooperation, economic recovery, increasing education and employment opportunities, improving social policies and regaining world leadership.
It is expected that the framework of Obama's administration will be revealed in his inaugural address and might include some, if not all, of his priorities during the early days of his presidency. It is also foreseeable that most of his choices will have been limited by the status quo in the United States and legacies left behind by President George W. Bush's years in the White House.
"From everything you read and everything you hear from this town and everything he has indicated, he is committed to getting this economy moving again," Todd Gillenwater, a resident of Washington, D.C., said.
"I am confident the incoming president working hopefully with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to really do what he has promised to do, which was to change the culture in Washington, and come up with a proposal and do hard work it needs to turn this economy around."
FROM ECONOMY TO WARS
Despite the whole nation's blessings and all of his living predecessors, Obama will inherit a nation in deep economic woes with record-high unemployment, struggling key industries like finance and auto, an alarming housing crisis, among others, dragged by rocketing war spending and a collapsed financial system.
"The most significant change will be for the passage of the major economic stimulus package bill that the president-elect has put forward. It is most important thing in the first year of his presidency," said Mark Rozell, a professor on public policy at George Mason University.
Obama has urged lawmakers in Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, to act immediately in a bipartisan way on the economic stimulus package and has put forward some details, such as investing in infrastructure and clean energy.
"I think the success in the first year of his presidency is going to be judged on whether he is able to get the economic program enacted that will create some confidence in the markets in the United States and settles the financial situation somewhat," Rozell said.
"If he is not able to do that, it is going to be a very difficult road for him as president because that is what more than anything else the country is looking forward for him to do."
On health care, an issue that has haunted Americans for decades, Obama is also committed to keeping his campaign promise to extend its coverage and improve its efficiency.
"During his campaign, President-elect Barack Obama proposed major changes to the U.S. healthcare system," Henry Aaron, a senior fellow on health care policy at the Washington-based Brookings, said.
"Given the enormous political difficulties associated with the will of approving those changes, it is quite likely that they (Obama's government) will spend much of the calendar year trying to design a reform plan, negotiating with key members of Congress, trying to determine what will be mutually agreeable to members of Congress and to the administration," he said.
Aaron also said that it was tricky to strike a balance between improving health care and reducing the budget deficit that was mainly attributed to health care expenses.
"There will be a merger between social policy concern and reforming the health care system, and the longer term worry about the danger from continuing a large deficit after the economy has recovered," he said.
On foreign policy, the most important move Obama is expected to make is to shift resources from Iraq to Afghanistan, making it the the focus of the U.S. anti-terror war.
"That is of course will be the most important shift in polices in the Middle East that will take place in the early part of Obama's administration if he is to follow through with that policy as mentioned during his presidential campaign," Rozell said.
The Defense Department has said that Obama can expect in the first days of his presidency several programs on how to start to end the Iraq war and shift the focus to Afghanistan, including his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq in the first 16 months after inauguration.
According to reports in several major newspapers, Obama's team has already disclosed his intention to start the process of closing the Guantanamo prison where many scandals and criticism of the Bush administration in interrogating and prosecuting terrorist suspects have brewed.
FROM TEAM TO CABINET
The power transition from Bush to Obama, in general, has been considered to be smooth, highlighted by Bush's early invitation to Obama's family to visit the White House, the immediate start of cabinet member appointments after election day, the rare meeting of all current, future and previous living presidents at the Oval Office, and joint efforts of Bush and Obama in calling for passage of the economic stimulus package in Congress.
On the other hand, Obama has also sped up the transition of his campaign team to a cabinet that can actually work to realize the promised changes.
In contrast to a team composed of young leaders, political activists and volunteers associated with grassroot voters and communities, Obama has also enlisted a group of Washington veterans to carve out a way forward against political difficulties his blueprint of changes may encounter.
"Even though we know he promised changes from the past, which was his major campaign theme, he has brought back a lot of people from the Clinton administration including Hillary Clinton herself as secretary of state," Rozell said. "Obama is sending a signal that although he may not have long experience in D.C., people advising him and helping him make policies have the most extensive experience of all."
However, no appointee in the new cabinet has been officially approved by the Senate and the confirmation hearing for the assumed Treasury Secretary was delayed after reports said he did not pay enough tax when he was self-employed and hired a maid without legal documents to work in the Unite States.
Clinton's appointment as secretary of state is still waiting for a vote by the Senate's full floor as some senators still have concerns about her husband's fundraising activities.
Obama must also fill the vacancy of commerce secretary as his choice, Bill Richardson, has withdrawn his nomination due to his involvement in a corruption case under investigation.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)
