It is finally over #- we have a president who has been elected with a clear majority of votes cast, as well as a sweeping victory in the Electoral College. Ever since the end of the 2004 campaign, Election 2008 has been in full swing, with the presumptive nominees falling to the wayside in the primary contests to give us Sen. John McCain and now President-elect Barrack Obama nominee status. And while the campaign seemed to be without end, Obama will find that was all easy, compared to what lies ahead.

Now comes the hard part: governance.

It is now time to attempt to put in place all those items that were discussed during the campaign (and outlined in some 183 pages in “Change We Can Believe In,” a campaign book specifically detailing his policy agenda). That will be no easy task. Unlike any president in the last half century, Obama faces a daunting landscape.

He not only faces an economy in free fall, but being bogged down in three military ventures (Iraq, Afghanistan and the overall war on terror). Couple that with a federal government that is running on empty (highlighted by the story that ran election morning about Washington borrowing $550 billion for the first quarter of its new budget year to meet its obligations) and that the full bill for the record $700 billion financial bailout last month may increase. That means that taking on new initiatives, including the big three #- expanding health insurance coverage, making the nation less dependent on foreign sources of energy and investing in our infrastructure are all the harder.

Yet, even with these challenges, Obama does have the capacity to start his presidency on the right track and move the country forward. Mindful of the past, it can only be hoped that his transition will not get mired into political quagmires over minor policies that others have (i.e. Bill Clinton over gays in the military soon after his 1992 victory) that detract from moving his overall agenda forward.

Now is the time for Obama to come out strong, naming not only his specific goals for his new administration, but to start naming appointees who can build a faith in Washington that is so often lacking. He has inspired, by his words, ever since announcing his candidacy last year. The challenge is now to get the public to again believe in the institutions he will now be responsible for.

Actions do speak louder than words, and it is clear that Obama has the rhetoric down. It is now time for him to translate it into results.

Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com