Now What?

Now that Senator Barack Obama has won the presidential election, the real work for him begins. The first one hundred days will prove crucial to the success of his presidency. Mr. Obama's main chore will be to tamp down the overheated enthusiasm of his supporters and he must reach across the aisle to republicans and push forward a bipartisan agenda. Neither task will be easy.

While it may be tempting, the last thing Mr. Obama should do is spend his newfound political capital on paying off political debts. He need only look as far as Bill Clinton to see what a drag that can put on a newly elected president's momentum.

Instead of spending the first one hundred days of his presidency riding the wave of energy that ushered him into office, Mr. Clinton allowed himself to get bogged down with the messy business of rewarding a political constituency. The country was hungry for reform in Washington, but Mr. Clinton frittered away his early political capital by championing the much maligned "don't ask, don't tell" policy concerning gays in the military. Mr. Obama would be well advised to avoid such early blunders. He should try to establish his credentials as a unifier early and often.

The first order of business after any hard fought campaign is to mend fences with your political foes. The easiest way to do that is to throw a few appointments their way. Normally this could be accomplished by giving someone on the other side of the aisle an ambassadorship of some kind. However, Mr. Obama probably has to go one step further; maybe by selecting a high profile republican to serve in his cabinet, for instance. Note to Mr. Obama: Such a move would appear more genuine if the person isn’t someone who endorsed you during the campaign.

Next, the president-elect should build a world-class team of economic experts. This team should meet daily with current US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. They should all meet frequently with Mr. Obama to bring him up to speed on their ideas for solving the current economic crises.

Mr. Obama should also consider approving some form of limited offshore drilling. While this would not go over very well with his more left leaning supporters, it would play well in conservative circles and with more moderate thinking Americans who support an "all-of-the-above" strategy. At the same time, he should set up a panel to research and report back to him at some appointed deadline, the best alternative fuel strategy for the country. This would appease the "green" element of his constituency while showing the rest of the country that he is indeed serious about reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

Once he has gained his footing on these issues, he will have built up some of the political capital he will need to push his big ideas like health care and education for all. But trying to set those items in motion too soon would be a big mistake.

Early indications seem to suggest that Mr. Obama is quite cognizant of the approach he needs to take. He has reportedly asked Rep. Rahm Emmanuel to be his chief of staff. Rahm, a democrat who served in President Clinton’s administration, has aligned himself with the centrist Democratic Leadership Council. He also has a reputation as a tough political fighter.

While the rhetoric of this campaign has brought out many old wounds from the past, it is now time to accept the outcome and move forward as a nation. With the country's future at stake, all Americans should hope that Mr. Obama's historic presidency turns out to be a smashing success.