it is necessary to break with the Democrats and build a party that truly represents the working class: a mass party of labor.
So what kind of presidency can we expect under Obama? He may have said a lot of inspiring and promising things on the campaign trail, but if you read between the lines, it is clear he has been careful to commit to very little. In fact, even before being elected, he was already backing off from many of his promises, in order to dampen soaring expectations.
But with people like Michael Moore calling it "The Promised Land," you can be sure that people expect results - fast. Obama's advisors and the media understand this well and have moved quickly to temper the mood of exaltation that has swept him into power. On election night, MSNBC analysts were already expressing concern that his supporters could be "disappointed." One of Obama's senior advisors told the UK newspaper The Times that the first few weeks after the election will be crucial, "so there's not a vast mood swing from exhilaration and euphoria to despair."
In an article titled "Barack Obama lays plans to deaden expectation after election victory," The Times reported:
"In an interview with a Colorado radio station, Mr Obama appeared to be engaged already in expectation lowering. Asked about his goals for the first hundred days, he said he would need more time to tackle such big and costly issues as health care reform, global warming and Iraq. 'The first hundred days is going to be important, but it's probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference,' he said. He has also been reminding crowds in recent days how 'hard' it will be to achieve his goals, and that it will take time. 'I won't stand here and pretend that any of this will be easy - especially now,' Mr Obama told a rally in Sarasota, Florida, yesterday, citing 'the cost of this economic crisis, and the cost of the war in Iraq.'"
The polarization of American society is growing, both to the left and to the right. In the heat of the election campaign, forces have been stirred up that must be brought back under control. The former rivals must now move might and main to ensure that calm and order prevails. In McCain's concession speech, he sounded a call for national unity and support for the new president. In his acceptance speech, Obama set the tone for his presidency. We provide here a few excerpts.
"I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctors bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.
"There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who wont agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government cant solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way its been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
"What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we 