Such claims, as veteran and perceptive political observers in the Democratic and Republican Parties, the media establishment, and academe, know too well, are an election-year standard, like this historic race to the White House.

The claimants represented myriad advocacy groups, including youth, working women, single women, Hispanics, religious left, mixed race, labor organizations, and many others. Oh yes, especially the true believers. They all claimed credit as they jostled and elbowed each other to push their respective agenda.

To name a few, these were, specifically, the "National Council of La Raza," the largest national Hispanic and civil rights and advocacy organization; AFL-CIO that represented 10 million voters; the "Rock the Vote," a youth advocacy group that proclaimed the young people have spoken and elected Obama; "Women’s Voices, Women Vote" composed of single women’s political advocacy organization; "Sojourners," a progressive Christian group; the "Human Rights Campaign," a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization; the National Jewish Democratic Council; the Council on American Islamic Relations. Virtually all claimed that they "made the difference" in Obama’s astounding victory.

Well, as an observer of American presidential politics for years, but certainly not one of the true believers, I must say that no one can really doubt such claims as well as the magnitude of what Obama achieved. He broke the racial barrier that many black Americans had tried to topple for decades.

But, with such a great victory come great expectations. Many of Obama’s ardent supporters will be let down if he fails to fulfill the countless promises he voiced during the campaign, particularly those who voted for him with their eyes wide open to his limitations. Of course, everything now depends on how he governs a fractious country and tackles such challenges as fiscal crisis, economic ills, energy independence, climate change, and grapples with the great power rivalries, the international terrorism, the two wars, and the global financial crisis and looming recession.

Obama is fully aware of those challenges and problems even before he takes his oath of office on January 20, 2009. He has already taken steps for the takeover by the Obama administration of the reins of power from the Bush administration ten weeks from today. He has formed a transition team, appointed his chief of staff, and eventually his Cabinet officials, like the secretaries of state, defense and national security, who all assist him in running his administration and restoring America’s international standing that sank to awful lows during Bush’s eight-long years in power.

Will Obama succeed? It’s too early to say. But this I can say, like most politicians he’s likely to fail more than he succeeds in the first four years of his first term in the presidency.

Still, if Barack Obama is indeed, as his true believers, supporters and voters, the 52 percent of the popular vote that he won, "a man of great dignity, superior talents and high ideals," then he’ll probably succeed. As he gloriously put it, "Yes, we can!"

***

I just read this startling report about the next US presidential election in 2012. Some of the "sharpest political minds" there are thinking of how best to take Barack Obama after his first term at the White House.

There will be no shortage of volunteers for the position of Republican nominee. The most visible of the probable contenders is Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, who was the running mate of Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee who lost the race to the White House last November 4. "She has been reviled during the campaign, but to her fans she has it all: youth, faith, a lovely family, and star power on the stump …"

If she fails to make it, there are plenty others who are itching to run for president. And if she succeeds, will she be facing New York Senator Hillary Clinton? Or, perhaps, Laura Bush, Condi Rice, and other Republican women senators, governors, black or white?