The presidency of Barack Obama

Across many parts of the land, and some parts of the globe, genuine euphoria greeted the election last week of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. As we said in this space in January, he has that kind of effect on people. As a politician, he has a magnetism that is captivating. Almost magical.

Magic would come in handy in the months ahead.

The euphoria, as is inevitable, will pass. Then, the grit of reality will arrive with the freezing cold of winter. Few presidencies have started with the deep challenges waiting like shallow minefields before this one.

The president-elect got right to work last week, and we were happy to see it. The problems America faces demand seriousness of purpose, and an unsure public requires that reassurance.

We feel a certain connection to Obama. He will become, after all, the fourth president with roots in Illinois. We've come to know him since he first began running for the U.S. Senate in 2004.

In that time, he's shown himself to be practical, visionary, unusually self-confident and positive. When in his victory speech Tuesday night, he vowed to be president of all Americans by telling opponents, "I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices," the pledge resonated like an echo with us. As we sat with him before, we often heard him take into account the opposition view and to use it to refine his own approach.

If Obama were sitting with us now, here is the advice we would pass along:

Follow your best instincts. Stay true to yourself and to the promises you've made. It was generally a centrist approach, addressing Americans' concerns, regardless of campaign rhetoric seeking to cast it as "socialism."

You were hired to solve the stunning failures of George Bush and get the country back on the right track. No one expects you to solve every problem in your first 100 days.

The first concern must be to stabilize the economy, followed by a resolution of the war in Iraq. Followed by national security, foreign policy, education, energy and the environment, the deficit, government ethics, health care, entitlement programs and other issues.

You'll have a lot of balancing to do, but you must manage the impulses at the far left of your party. Beware the example of the Republicans, who thought they had built a majority for the next generation, then proceeded to throw away public support by adopting an uncompromising agenda.

Put qualification and integrity first in selecting your advisers. Just look at what Bush's carelessness cost him in this regard.

If you hope to secure a second term and see your solutions become lasting, reach out to the best aspects of both parties. Perhaps you can even find an important assignment for that fine old warrior, John McCain.