Mr. Obama wins presidency
(From The Japan Times Nov. 6 issue)

要約
オバマ氏当選で始まる本当の闘い

The senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, made history Nov. 4 when he was elected the 44th president of the United States. The scale and sweep of his victory are nothing short of breathtaking: Not only did he win a landslide in the electoral college, but he rode a Democratic wave into Congress. He should savor his victory: He knows the road ahead will be steep and that his win was the means to an end, not an end in itself. The real work now begins.

All public opinion polls showed an overwhelming majority of Americans believe their country is on the wrong track. Outgoing President George W. Bush is the face of that failure. The economic crisis, the war in Iraq, health-care insurance, and a sense that the country had lost its standing and its way in the world all contributed to the Democratic victories.

While Mr. Obama can change the tenor of the national discourse and offer a new course for the nation, reality will prove considerably less amenable to his not inconsiderable talents. In many ways, the greatest challenge Mr. Obama faces is reconciling the expectations of his supporters with the constraints he will inherit. While he has promised to get U.S. troops out of Iraq, that will not be an easy process. It must be done in a way that does not hurt U.S. security, its credibility or its image in the world. And even if that is a success, he faces a renewed insurgency in Afghanistan that will continue to drain U.S. resources. To tackle these challenges and the many more that will top his foreign policy agenda, he will need friends and allies. He must reach out and assure them that they — we — will be part of his effort. Some in Japan feared an Obama victory. The leadership in Japan should seize the moment to forge a stronger relationship with the new administration.

He inherits a nation that is diving into recession, whose financial system is broken, and a government and a society that are living well beyond its means. He must rein in spending while reducing taxes, find ways to provide health care for all Americans, get the economy back on track and provide assistance to the millions of people suffering through the downturn. Most important, he must bridge the partisan divide that has poisoned American politics. His victory is a reminder that such dreams are not beyond reach. We wish him good luck.

バラク・オバマ上院議員は第44代大統領に当選し歴史を変えた。選挙人獲得数のみならず議会選挙でも民主党が圧勝。当選は目的達成への手段だと知る氏の本当の闘いはこれからだ。

国民の大半は国が悪い方向へ進んでいると考え、金融危機、イラク戦争、医療保険問題、超大国としての威信低下が民主党を勝利へ導いた。

支援者の期待と実際の制約の折り合いをつけることが最大の課題だ。米軍の安全と米国の信頼性を損ねずにイラクから撤退できたとしても、アフガニスタンでの反乱で戦費流出は続く。氏は友好国、同盟国と手を組む必要がある。政権交代を機に日本は日米関係を強化すべきだ。

金融システムが破綻し景気後退に陥った米国は経済改革と生活支援を進めなければならない。まずは、党派間の不和の解消だ。これは実現可能だと、氏の勝利は教えてくれた。