THE NEW PRESIDENT

Posted at 7:59 a.m. ET

Of course we're disappointed.  We need to get over it quickly.  There are these things to be done:

First, we greet the president-elect, whose acceptance speech was eloquent. We wish him every success, while reserving the right to define what the word means.

Second, we make our feelings known - about policies and appointments.  This is the time for participation, not silence.  We are citizens, no matter who we supported.

Third, we avoid internecine warfare on our side.  It is a moment for planning and thoughtful debate.  Blame games are just that - games.  Games never get you anywhere, unless you're in a casino.

Fourth, we recognize that there'll be another election in two years.  Between Bill Clinton's election in 1992, and the midterms of 1994, the GOP was essentially reborn.  It was so successful in the 1994 elections that President Clinton, at a news conference, had to argue that he was still relevant.

Fifth, we constantly remind ourselves, and our leaders, that foreign threats trump anything else.  We must never be distracted, no matter how great our domestic challenges.

Sixth, we don't become what the Democrats became out of office - a bitter party, wallowing in conspiracy theories.  We don't want to see directed at Mr. Obama the irrational, destructive hatred that was showered on President Bush.

The new president takes the oath in two and a half months.  In that time he will appoint a number of officials.  The quality of the appointments will tell us much about the character of the new administration.  Mr. Obama said he would preside in a spirit of bipartisanship.  Of course, they always say that.  If he appoints Republicans to his cabinet, however, let us hope they are real Republicans, not marshmallows or Republicans in Name Only, or Republicans who helped Mr. Obama get elected.

There are four key cabinet posts - State, Defense, Treasury, and Attorney-general.  Mr. Obama's secretary of state should be a strong, firm individual who knows the department well, and who will not be buried by its deadening bureaucracy.  It should also be a person who will represent this country's interest first and foremost, without shame or excuse.  The defense secretary should be someone identified with strengthening defense, not a weak reed who will gladly preside over a diminished force.  Treasury, in the short term, may be the most crucial appointment of all.  Let's see if Obama has the courage to appoint someone like Larry Summers, who held the post under Clinton, but who was forced out of the presidency of Harvard in an orgy of dishonest political correctness. 

Because Obama comes from the Chicago political machine, we will watch to see if his attorney-general is an independent force for justice, or someone appointed to protect the president's legal flank.  In a way, it is the most symbolic appointment.  President-elect Kennedy's first blunder was appointing his brother as attorney-general, subjecting the new president to ridicule and contempt.  The appointment led to federal legislation banning such blatant nepotism. 

Today begins a new political era.  We are part of the loyal opposition.  How intelligently we proceed will determine how soon we have a victorious election, as in days we all remember.

November 5, 2008.