After hard campaign, hard work

Furthermore, the hard-fought election served to heighten political divisions in the country, and that, experts say, means the winner is unlikely to have an overwhelming public mandate to press his agenda. The continued polarisation is also expected to be reflected in the new Congress, where even the minority party in the Senate can block presidential initiatives.

8216;8216;I think it is an awful governing environment,8217;8217; said Norman Ornstein, a political scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. The presidential honeymoon, he added, will last 8216;8216;at best a long weekend8217;8217;.

Any grace period could be clouded even more if threatened litigation over alleged voting irregularities in key states keeps the presidential outcome in doubt for weeks.

The president will have to immediately grapple with vital matters, such as the threat of terrorism and the war in Iraq. Experts say it is unlikely that, in the short term, US policy in the troubled region will dramatically change.

Neither President Bush nor Senator Kerry pledged to immediately withdraw the US troops in Iraq and bracing for January elections, which may be accompanied by violence.

But Michael O8217;Hanlon, a foreign-policy expert at the Brookings Institution, said that, if the instability persists, the White House and Congress may come under public pressure to announce a departure date. He said it is unlikely that there will be greater foreign participation in Iraq, as Kerry has advocated, although the Democrat might be able to prod countries such as France and Germany to make larger financial contributions.

Aside from Iraq, there are other global hot spots that must be tended to, including North Korea, Iran, Sudan and the Palestinian situation.

James Lindsay, an expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Kerry would bring a different style to international diplomacy than Bush, with a greater emphasis on trying to reach out to allies to reach a consensus.

On the domestic side, campaign promises will likely collide with the reality that the federal treasury is not overflowing. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the federal deficit will exceed 400 billion this year.

The next president will not likely be able to ram his agenda through a Congress that is as divided as the nation either. While Republicans may retain control of the House, they are not expected to get the 60 seats in the Senate necessary to overcome a filibuster. That means both parties could block legislation backed by the White House.

8212; The New York Times