A new coalition

Four years ago, when George W. Bush won his re-election, despite the unpopularity of the Iraq war and high oil prices, there was much discussion about the abiding power of American conservatism. It appeared that the Democrats were out of touch with a large segment of the American population and that a Republican majority was indeed permanent. Even when the Republicans lost control of the Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections, few were willing to bet that Democrats could stitch together a national coalition that can win more often.

A victory for Obama will be historic not just because he is an African American. It will be historic because, he is the first northern liberal in the United States to win the presidency since John F. Kennedy in the 1960s. Since then, the Democrats have steadily lost ground in the South, among the suburban voters and the white working classes. It is Obama’s success in drawing together a diverse set of social classes that might be long remembered after the celebrations of his victory tonight.

Reining in the left

With the Democrats set to significantly increase their majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, Obama’s biggest political challenge will come from his own party rather than the Republicans.

Like the Congress premiers in India and the Labour ones in Britain, the biggest headache for a Democratic White House is to fend off pressures from the left liberals on policy-making. The left liberals have been the first and most vociferous supporters of Obama. They would want their pound of flesh, and soon.

... contd.