The Note: The Mandate

Nov. 5, 2008— -- The One is the one. Yes, we can, and yes, he did -- but can he really?

A new dawn arrived, coming long before sunrise -- and closing out a long-lasting morning in America. It casts light on a new map, produced by a new electorate, and invites in a new president's vision for a troubled time.

President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama -- his name itself speaking to the improbable journey that brought him here -- gets a mandate to go with his landslide, yes. Now, out of the grand scramble to define what that means, comes the great challenge that may define a generation: What to do with it.

For Sen. John McCain -- a graceful exit that gives the nation the gift of finality, if not quite unity. A return to the Senate enhanced by a remarkable run of his own -- the chance, still, to serve his country.

For congressional Democrats -- expanded majorities in the House and Senate, though not the kind that makes compromise optional. (And will we find out what Nancy Pelosi's House looks like without Rahm Emanuel -- the odds-on choice to become Obama's chief of staff?)

For the GOP -- rock-bottom, perhaps, and new opportunities. The party is wide open for rebranding, and the smart minds know how quickly 2010 approaches. (In the meantime, it's going to get ugly.)

This is Obama's story though, with much still unwritten. He won his way: A calm, confident campaign that defied conventions and disproved assumptions. A broad demographic and geographic sweep -- the kind we've been trained to think can no longer exist in polarized American politics.

Can he govern the same way?

"A national catharsis," declares The New York Times' Adam Nagourney, "a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama's call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country."

"Barack Obama built his victory out of a concrete base of near unanimous support from black voters, layered with overwhelming support from Hispanics, young people and enough white voters to remake the partisan landscape in the United States," ABC's Brian Hartman writes.

"This happened because we did this -- we did this, America did this," Oprah Winfrey told ABC's Robin Roberts, on "Good Morning America" Wednesday.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event. At odd intervals -- 1800, 1860, 1932, 1980 -- the nation reaches a 'pivot point,' an election that draws the line between the past and the future. And 2008 appears to be just such a line in the shifting sands of our convulsive times," the AP's Ron Fournier writes. "On Tuesday, he received the huge wave of support he sought. But will he be able to do all that he promised? Will his ecstatic supporters be satisfied with anything less?"

"Interpreting his mandate will be only one of several critical decisions Obama must make as he prepares to assume the presidency," The Washington Post's Dan Balz writes. "Others include transforming his campaign promises on taxes, health care, energy and education into a set of legislative priorities for his first two years in office."

Says an Obama adviser: "We're all wary of the lessons of 2006, when expectations were raised so high prematurely."

Still too close for projections Wednesday morning (with Obama at 338 and counting, per ABC News' electoral count): Indiana, North Carolina, and Missouri.

Still waiting on final Senate results (with Democrats at 56 and counting up, slowly) from Minnesota, Oregon, Alaska, and Georgia (where the race is for 50 percent).

Numbers not reached in a century? "It looks like 136.6 million Americans will have voted for president this election, based on 88 percent of the country's precincts tallied and projections for absentee ballots, said Michael McDonald of George Mason University. Using his methods, that would give 2008 a 64.1 percent turnout rate," the AP's Seth Borenstein reports.

Where from here? Obama will bring an unwieldy coalition with him to the White House.

"Which Barack Obama will dominate as he begins to govern?" Doyle McManus writes in the Los Angeles Times. "Too much of the ambitious liberal, and he rekindles partisan squabbles he was supposed to transcend. Too much the cautious mediator who reaches across the aisle to compromise with Republicans, and he risks losing the energy and idealism that attracted millions to his candidacy."

"Barack Obama played above the rim. He made the difficult look easy," Bloomberg News' Julianna Goldman and Michael Tackett write. "The larger problem for the Illinois senator, however, might be that he didn't adequately prepare the country for the extent of the problems that he will inherit as president."

Bigger than Obama: "It was the reality of power, not the symbolism, that changed Tuesday night in ways more profound than meet the eye," Politico's John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei write. "The rout of the Republican Party, and the accompanying gains by Democrats in Congress, mean that Barack Obama will assume office with vastly more influence in the nation's capital than most of his recent predecessors have wielded."