A new president

On 4 November, Americans showed they were ready for change, when they elected Democrat Barack Obama as their next president. We look at commentary on the election results from the US media.

The New York Times

This is one of those moments in history when it is worth pausing to reflect on the basic facts: an American with the name 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. ...

His triumph was decisive and sweeping, because he saw what is wrong with this country: the utter failure of government to protect its citizens. He offered a government that does not try to solve every problem but will do those things beyond the power of individual citizens: to regulate the economy fairly, keep the air clean and the food safe, ensure that the sick have access to health care, and educate children to compete in a globalized world.

The campaign began with the war [in Iraq] as its central focus. By Election Day, Americans were deeply anguished about their futures and the government’s failure to prevent an economic collapse fed by greed and an orgy of deregulation. Mr. Obama will have to move quickly to impose control, coherence, transparency and fairness on the Bush administration’s jumbled bailout plan. ...

The Wall Street Journal

... Assorted pundits of the left and right keep telling us that the tax issue has lost its political power. They must not have been paying attention to the Presidential campaign, and especially not to Barack Obama. One of the Democrat's main political feats this year has been to portray himself as a  more formidable tax cutter than John McCain. ...

[E]ven Mr. Obama and his strategists have recognized that a Democrat couldn't win by running as a tax increaser. He had to run as a tax cutter for "95% of workers," while claiming that his tax increases would only hit the very rich. A recent Fox News poll found that when asked the best way to help stimulate the economy, 60% said "cut taxes," while only 20% said raise government spending.

There's a lesson here for both parties. For Democrats, it is a warning that raising taxes won't be as politically easy as many of them suspect, especially in a recession. Millions of Obama voters have been led to believe their taxes will go down, and they are likely to be sorely disappointed if they discover the opposite next year. ...

As for Republicans, the message is that one of their top priorities should be to reclaim the tax issue. It was crucial to their rebound in the Clinton years and is one of the few issues that unifies social and economic conservatives and independent voters. The media and Democrats will try to portray this election as a mandate for more taxes and spending. If Republicans fall for that, they'll stay in the minority a very long time.

The Washington Post

Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States: like so many millions of Americans, we savor the phrase, and congratulate the winner, and celebrate the momentousness of the occasion. It is momentous for the generational change it heralds, the geographic realignment it reflects and the racial progress it both acknowledges and promises. Most of all, Mr. Obama's victory is momentous for the opportunity it presents to put the country on a new and better path ... with a new spirit of patriotism, service and responsibility.

No one should minimize the challenges Mr. Obama will face, including that of reaching out to the millions of Americans who voted for his opponent. He owes his victories ... in part to the nation's unhappiness with George W. Bush and its anxiety about the economy. But his victories in every region of the country also demonstrate voters' willingness to give the new president a chance to put forward a more responsible economic program than that practiced by Mr. Bush or preached by John McCain. ...

The losing candidate ... is one of the political leaders for whom we have the deepest respect, and Mr. McCain's gracious and eloquent concession speech underscored why. Mr. McCain's call ... for "goodwill and earnest effort to come together," and his pledge to Mr. Obama "to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face" were in keeping with his history of bipartisanship in the service of his country. ...