Obama has plenty on his plate

In six days, the eyes of the world will be focused on Washington, D.C. Normally, anticipation of an upcoming presidential inauguration is a joyful time, especially for the political party and those who voted for Obama. But this year the joy and celebration will be tempered by the slumping world economy, America’s in particular, and fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza.

As odd as it may seem President-elect Barack Obama is being looked at as the “answer” to the problems just mentioned.

After his historic election, Obama never had the opportunity to sit back, unwind and simply enjoy the moment. Because of America’s economic downturn, Obama instructed his campaign to tone down the victory celebration in Chicago’s Grant Park.

Anticipating a crowd of supporters upwards of 200,000, Obama cancelled firework displays. He felt Americans were suffering economically and weren’t in the mood to ignore their plight, even temporarily. (I disagree because Obama won 52.9 percent of 122.4 million votes cast and you can bet they wanted to celebrate, but that was his choice.)

What’s perhaps most enlightening is the fact that people all over the world kept a close eye on our election — and the majority wanted Obama to win.

As the presidential campaign came to a close, most Americans felt that whoever won would have to hit the ground running. Obama did not disappoint.

Putting actions to words, of bringing a “change” to Washington, he did. When he made his choices for Cabinet posts he not only reached across the political aisle he also extended his hands across the religious divide.

In the process, he made friends and allies of political and religious adversaries and upset political and religious supporters and backers. His proposed Cabinet includes both genders and racially mixed nominees of Democratic and Republican persuasions.

His choice to offer the inaugural invocation was the Rev. Rick Warren. Needless to say, the gay and lesbian communities are upset because Warren defines marriage as a union only between a man and a woman.

After selecting a diverse and highly competent Cabinet including a Bush administration holdover, Robert Gates as defense secretary, most folks were surprised and pleased.

Next, Obama and his team began offering his views and solutions to immediately ease America’s economic woes. He’s suggested a stimulus package geared toward creating 2 million to 3 million jobs. To make his package palatable to Republicans, he’s even suggested a tax cut. The tax cut faces an uphill fight that will come from his party, the Democrats.

Then, on Dec. 29, Israel began air strikes in Gaza against Hamas. So far, Obama has mostly avoided getting into the Israeli-Palestinian debate saying there’s only one president – George W. Bush.

If Obama is expecting a grand dinner the evening of his inauguration there will be plenty of meat on his plate – the economy, jobs, and three wars. I’m afraid he’ll have to wait a while for dessert.

Welcome to the White House!

Nelson Graves, Western Virginia director of the Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council, writes a weekly column for The News Virginian. E-mail him at .