‘ ‘ ‘ After more than two years, millions of dollars and endless hours of campaign coverage,… ‘ ‘ ‘ After more than two years, millions of dollars and endless hours of campaign coverage, commercials, punditry and nonsense, the presidential election has finally come to a close. And with the necessary 270 electoral votes, Barack Obama won Pennsylvania and the presidential election. ‘ ‘ ‘ But that’s only the beginning. When Obama takes office in January, he’ll have ahead of him some of the toughest political challenges a new president has faced in recent history. ‘ ‘ ‘ With a failing economy, an ongoing foreign war and the challenge of his own lack of experience in Washington to surmount, Obama needs to start his programs and policies as soon as he gets into office to have a chance of healing the country’s wounds during the next four years. ‘ ‘ ‘ The first and most important act he will perform will be to choose his cabinet, and it would be wise of him to pick people who can help him compensate for his own limited experience. ‘ ‘ ‘ It would also be refreshing for him to choose members across party lines and ideologies ‘mdash; it’s rarely beneficial to only have people who agree with you to be your advisers. Obama needs to be as open to discussion as he has been during his campaign, as this will be key to forming his administration. ‘ ‘ ‘ Also, it’s important for Obama to start detailing his plans for social and international policies. With Congress firmly in the hands of the Democrats, Obama shouldn’t have a hard time passing new legislation and enacting his policies. But that doesn’t mean he can afford to let them wait. ‘ ‘ ‘ Even though he’s tried to outline clearly how his tax policies and health care package will work, it’s important that he puts them into legislative motion quickly so they can be seen and understood in final form. ‘ ‘ ‘ The same goes for his policy in the Middle East. Obama has been notably noncommittal on a definite plan for dealing with Iraq, so developing one and putting it into motion should be an immediate goal of his administration. ‘ ‘ ‘ It’s also important that he clarify his plans for the war in Afghanistan, given how vocal he was on the subject during the debates with Sen. John McCain. ‘ ‘ ‘ It’s clear that Obama intends to change Washington and the policies and procedures of the Bush administration. But people have to remember that even though he has been hailed as a vanguard of change by his supporters, he still has to work within the traditional constraints of the system that his predecessors did before. ‘ ‘ ‘ It’s impossible for him to immediately fix all the problems plaguing the United States. While Obama has a mantra of change, changes take time to enact and settle in. It’s simply not possible for everything to be fixed right after he takes office. Supporters have earned the right to be excited, but we all need to be patient, too. ‘ ‘ ‘ But that only means that the first few months of his term are even more important than they are usually. While an incumbent president has the luxury of continuing his programs from the last term, Obama has no such ability. ‘ ‘ ‘ Instead, he must work as hard and as quickly as possible to bring about the social and political reform that he promised, at the risk of seeming ineffective if he does not. ‘ ‘ ‘ Obama’s race to the White House might be over, but now it’s up to him to see how the rest of his presidential legacy will be realized.