THE crescendo of excitement over US President-elect Barack Obama will reach its highest pitch on January 20, 2009 when President Obama takes his oath of office as America’s 44th President. The mammoth preparations, the media hoopla, the celebrity-studded gala banquets, the multisectoral and multi-racial representation will leave no stone unturned to honor and welcome America’s first African-American to the presidency.

It had been a spectacular display of democratic exuberance, and the courage to unite and concede to reality as the white population had done to preserve democracy and unity.

In the next few days, all eyes will be on America and Washington D.C. Americans will forget momentarily their woes, disappointments, fears, worries, mortgages, and the certainty of unemployment to savor this historic moment.

Thenceforth, as Richard Holbrooks, former US ambassador to the UN and friend of Asia, had opined, "The next US President will inherit a more difficult set of international challenges than any predecessor since World War II."

That is, the problems of State, among many more, must all be tackled simultaneously as all urgent and priority.

However, the most urgent of these is to address the domestic recession pari-passu with the global recession; and second, how to restore the respect, credibility, and reputation of the United States in the eyes of the world if America is to retain its moral leadership in a vastly changed world.

Thus, in America, it is never premature or too early to ask whether he can hack it or not?

First, while President Obama won the presidency on the platform of hope and change, the situation on the ground is worse than previously predicted.

As President Obama himself admitted that the economy "will likely get worse before it gets better" is an admission that the recovery is far from certain in spite of the financial stimulus pending in the US Congress amounting from $500 to $700 billion.

While his priority focus is on the domestic economy, the rest of the world, which was dragged down by the economic disaster in the US, anxiously awaits that recovery for their own revival.

Though President Obama was unfortunate to have inherited it, "the "hot potato" is on his lap, and the American people are watching whether their first black American president can solve their economic distress.

Second, the world is watching whether his lack of experience and knowledge of foreign affairs and international geopolitics will aggravate or alleviate matters.

To start with, observers had already criticized him for his stony silence on the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and the death of hundreds of Palestinian women and children.

Neither the United States, nor lameduck President George W. Bush, nor President Obama lifted a finger to stop Israeli aggression or stop the slaughter of civilians by Israeli firepower.

The ambivalence or passivity of President Obama on the Palestine issue is ominous of his impotence when it comes to Israeli self-interest.

The Jewish Lobby in the United States is more powerful and more influential than all US presidents combined.

If there will be no peace in the Middle East, there can be no peace in the world.

Thus, before he can even sit in the Oval Office, President Obama’s resolve, political will, and determination are already being questioned and scrutinized.

Third, being black is not an advantage in the longrun, and the consequences could mess up the White House and the world.

When all is said and done, it is hoped that the expectations are within his grasp and competence.

Fortunately, President Barack Obama cannot be worse than President George W. Bush as the latter leaves America in tatters.

You be the judge. (For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)