Barack Obama, buoyed by a surge of new voters and a desire for change among Americans, shattered barriers once unthinkable Tuesday as he was elected our 44th president.
Marrying the technique of community organizing to the power of the Internet, Obama transformed American politics to become the first African-American to ascend to the White House by defeating Sen. John McCain.
The Democrat from Illinois, unknown to most Americans just a few years ago, gave powerful voice to many of those rattled by a shaky economy and unhappy with the direction of the country. In doing so, he transcended the racial divisions that too often bitterly divided our country in the past and generated an enthusiam in politics that hasn’t been seen in decades.
“Change has come to America,” he said late Tuesday.
But now, the president-elect needs to bring the same open spirit and innovative ideas to the staggering problems he will face in the days, months and years ahead.
Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A global economic crisis. Hot spots simmering across the globe. Nuclear proliferation. Energy issues. Looming U.S. recession. Soaring deficits.
The severity of the economic crisis that propelled Obama to victory means that America’s new leader can’t even wait until his inauguration to begin convening the nation’s best minds to search for fundamental reforms. Tapping such volunteer talent as investor Warren Buffet, Obama should swiftly assemble a crack bipartisan team like the “brain trust” that Franklin D. Roosevelt assembled after his 1932 landslide to search for ways to cure America’s economic ills. That team should work in concert with the Bush administration and the outgoing Congress to stabilize the economy until longer-term reforms can be installed.
Obama shouldn’t hesitate to embrace any of McCain’s good ideas. For his part, McCain can help Obama bridge the partisan divide in Washington. He began to do so with his gracious concession speech Tuesday night. Obama will need such a united America after he is inaugurated to deal with our many challenges.
Besides the credit crisis and mounting unemployment, America faces a soaring national debt, a health care system that leaves 47 million uninsured, the need to rebuild our educational system and physical infrastructure, and the long-term challenge to national solvency posed by runaway entitlement spending.
Like FDR, Obama will find his party holding a strong grip on Congress. The engorged Democratic majorities should be responsive to his program, but they also expose Obama to the risk of the hubris that overtook FDR after his 1936 landslide — when he squandered his popularity with a plan to pack the U.S. Supreme Court.
Obama’s best hope of avoiding such overreaching may be to continue to listen to the millions of Americans who rallied to his Internet-based campaign, sending him money and ideas. The millions of names on his database give Obama a personal support group unrivaled in the history of the presidency. Such grassroots pressure could be helpful in persuading Congress to pass his programs.
Obama won the presidency by running his own campaign. He sought advice from the best minds available, then made his own decisions and demonstrated the leadership needed to steer the campaign to victory.
For the sake of the nation, we hope he shows similar openness to ideas and resolution of spirit in the difficult months ahead.
