Please...Let Obama Be Centered

I voted for Barack Obama with the same hopefulness shared by half the population of the United States of America. I also voted for Norm Coleman. I'm a classic middle-of-the-road moderate.
During the campaign and now over the past two months, you and I have watched Obama move from being the Presidential candidate to the President-elect. We must remember how different these two roles are. As I reflect on my hopes for this President, I am encouraged by Obama's apparent move to the center which is really the best position for a president to govern. Especially right now -- as the economy falters, Israel and Hamas are at war, and the war in Iraq is far from over -- I am thoroughly impressed by the Obama Cabinet.
My Hope
My sincere hope is that the left wing of the Democratic party will allow Obama to govern from the center. Now is not the time make a wholesale swing from one end of the political spectrum to the other. The problems we're facing require talents from all sides of the aisles.
This goes for the electorate as well. Obama -- who is a liberal at heart -- was actually a crossover candidate. He appealed to a very interesting cross-section of American society. I believe he understands his position. His actions have already displayed a soberness to the complexity of governing that, quite frankly, the previous administration did not. But the problem I see will be that the left will be disappointed. The phrase "bait and switch" will, at some point, be uttered.
As an example, I have thought often in recent weeks about that day when Obama first received the same daily intelligence briefing that Bush has received for the past eight years. At that point -- and only that point -- Obama received the most clear understanding of the gravity of our military and diplomatic "theaters." I think that Obama has now fully realized the complexity of these situations. His military appointments have indicated a position that continuity -- on some levels -- from the past administration is required.
That last statement -- and many others I could make point by point against many of his current challenges -- will undoubtedly upset the left wing of the Democratic party. They want an immediate withdrawl from Iraq. They believe Obama promised this. Not gonna happen, to sound a little like GW. And I believe Obama is the one -- the only one -- who can communicate this to his base, to the rest of the American people, and the World.
I couldn't be more excited that Obama appears to be a man of great reason. Reason with passion. We've all experienced passion without reason, and that's the change I believe in. I hope America will get behind that change when the realities of the office of the President take hold.