By Lahle Wolfe

I hope that our first African American president will go down in history in a positive light, that Obama will rise to the occasion. I doubt he will get much of a 100-day honeymoon because he has inherited a far worse situation than Bill Clinton did. So I hope people will remember that Obama did not create the mess we are in and be patient.

1. Acceptance and Patience. My first hope is that all Americans will accept our new president rather than reject him before he has even been in office. I have already read reports that, in mere anticipation of an “Obama economic doomsday,” businesses are threatening to downsize. Do not let bad times become a self-fulfilling promise; let’s wait and see what happens before reacting.
2. Diverse Leadership. Leadership has never been more important to this country. A good leader seeks counsel and the opinions of even those who disagree, and bases choices on intellect and careful consideration; not emotions or pure party alliance. I hope to see a restoration of this country to a more unified nation through inclusion and diversity and expect to see Obama appoint more than just Democrats to his administration.

3. Health care. I am tired of watching people struggle, lose their homes, remain sick, and even die because health care is not affordable to the masses. I want legislative changes that reign in the insurance industry, not just see the burden put on tax payers and businesses.

4. Clear, Strong, and Swift Attention to Foreign Policy. We are already in economic crisis, at war, and millions of Americans out of work and losing their homes, too. But we have a tremendous problem with foreign relationships that has me very concerned. I hope to see Obama immediately begin tackling foreign policy issues. The economy will take time to heal, but Russia’s luke-warm response (tempered with subtle threats) tells me Obama is a president that will be tested. I expect him to be prepared to step into office and right into the fire.

5. Long-Term Thinking. Aside from our immediate crisis situations, our children are facing an even greater crisis down the road. Obama has now said his payroll tax increase would not take effect for ten years (a move to help rescue the social security system), but both Medicare and Social Security cannot wait ten years to be fixed.

Instead of “four more years,” we have “four new years.” For now, I’ll take that one day at a time, and, rather than preemptively panic, just wait and see what changes President-elect Obama will bring to our great nation.

This week's previous posts (most recent first): A Perfect Storm, Proud To Be An American, Obama Wish List, Will McCain Lose His Own State?, For Better or Worse, VOTE!, Why John McCain's Election Matters, Accepting Personal Responsibility