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Although we know his background, Obama was very noncommittal throughout this campaign about what he would actually do. He surfed the wave of "hope and change" all the way into the White House.

Because of this, as Krauthammer pointed out this evening, Obama now has a "mandate" to do anything he wants. Whatever he says, the Democrat majority will do. But if he's smart, the opposite will not apply. If he follows the wishes of hard-left Speaker Pelosi, they risk a backlash in two and in four years. If Obama dares, or even seriously threatens, to veto a Democrat congress on items that are to the left of the American people, he and we all win.

By winning the White House, Obama has also earned the mandate to speak to the minority community about parental responsibility and other moral issues. Voters in various states tonight, perhaps including California, showed that they believe in something better than "anything goes". Perhaps Obama can build on that as well.

As someone who has argued against Barack Obama for this whole year, I don't come to this position lightly, but I'm going to assume that Obama has learned the lessons of Jimmy Carter and the first two years of the Clintons, and that he'll at least attempt to do what's right for America rather than only what's right for the Democratic Party.

I say give him a chance. If he fails, crush him. As Clinton saw in 1994, voter remorse can translate into action in a mere two years.