SENTINEL WATCH December 1, 2008 Issue

AFTER THE ELECTION—STEPS THAT UNIFY

CHANNING WALKER

ELECTION NIGHT in the United States, November 4, 2008. A sea of Obama supporters gather in Grant Park in Chicago and release 21 months of pent-up hope and determination in a delirious victory celebration. Again and again the media underscore the historic nature of this election, and marvel that the US is about to have its first African-American President.

More than a thousand miles away, at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona, the crowd is substantial and the music loud. But the pent-up hopes long nurtured by the many Republicans—for their genuine war-hero candidate and their party as a whole—have plainly deflated. The mood is defiantly courageous, but the disappointment is as palpable as it is understandable.

For those who loved the outcome of this election—and for those who didn't—the most challenging tasks lie just ahead. Even before the monumental work of addressing the worldwide economic meltdown, the ongoing threats of terrorism, the energy crisis, a gravely ill healthcare system, global warming, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, comes the work for Americans of finding common ground. After so many months of candidates and their surrogates underscoring how differently they'd approach these concerns, how do they now switch directions and magnify what they have in common? To resolve those many problems successfully, a unified endeavor, a shared commitment, will be essential.