Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a white woman and a black man he barely knew, raised by his grandparents far outside the stream of American power and wealth, has been elected the 44th president of the United States by winning a decisive 349 to 144 electoral college votes.
First he had to defeat Hillary Clinton, who wanted to be president so badly that she lost her bearings, and then John McCain, who forsook his principles for a campaign built on anger and fear.
Mr. Obama inherits a terrible legacy. America is engaged in two wars — in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Mr. Obama’s challenge will be to manage an orderly withdrawal from Iraq and focus on the real front in the war on terror, Afghanistan.
By Election Day, Americans were deeply concerned about their futures and the government’s failure to prevent an economic collapse. Mr. Obama will have to move quickly to impose control, coherence, transparency and fairness on the Bush administration’s bailout plan.
Climate change is a global threat, and after years of denial and inaction, America must take the lead on addressing it. The nation must develop new, cleaner energy technologies, to reduce greenhouse gases and its dependence on foreign oil.
Mr. Obama also will have to rally sensible people to come up with immigration reform consistent with the values of a nation built by immigrants and refugees.
There are many other urgent problems that must be addressed. Tens of millions of Americans lack health insurance, including some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens — children of the working poor. Other Americans can barely pay for their insurance or are in danger of losing it along with their jobs. They must be protected.
In the next four years we will see if Obama was the right man for the job.
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