President George W. Bush

The election was divisive and filled with more than enough rancor for one year's politics, and the results in the Electoral College were painfully close. But now that a victor has been announced, the American people know what to do in these situations: accept George W. Bush as the rightfully elected president.

We have had enough of the rancor for a while, and our greatest hope now is that Mr. Bush will set out to earn the right to be seen as leader by all the nation. It was inspiring yesterday morning to see the lines of voters at the polls around the nation, but the mood was worrisome. Party loyalty was not the overarching emotion this year. Neither was enthusiasm for either of the candidates. The main emotion seemed to be contempt for the other side and the main divisions over lines of moral belief and fears about personal and national security that no position paper or 30-second spot can bridge.

The country has been battered by war, fear of terrorism and economic uncertainty — all of which seem to have intensified the longstanding distrust between the more secular, urban regions and the religious, rural areas. Three years ago, the trauma of Sept. 11 brought us together. As we have noted again and again, President Bush failed to come up with a national agenda that would make that moment of strong national purpose permanent, and it was replaced by a knee-jerk partisanship that that made everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat, feel compelled to jockey for the slightest partisan advantage.

The Republicans have extended their majorities in both houses of Congress, but if he is going to achieve great goals of real substance in his second term, Mr. Bush will have to help the nation reach some new place where elected officials expect that rewards can be won from cooperation and mutual respect. Right now, we are in the peculiar position of suffering political paralysis, despite the fact that there is a clear consensus on most questions of policy.

The polls from yesterday’s voting showed clearly how Mr. Bush and the Republicans succeeded, and where John Kerry and the Democrats failed. The number of voters who said their choice was driven primarily by moral values — and the vast majority of them cast their ballots for Mr. Bush — eclipsed those Americans who said they were primarily concerned about the war, terrorism and even the economy and jobs. Mr. Bush won despite the fact that a majority of Americans believe the war in Iraq is not going well, that health care costs are rising, that their jobs are threatened, that their taxes are not going down and that the economy is not going as well as Mr. Bush told them it was.

Those whose candidate was defeated yesterday, and that includes this page, must recognize this political reality and figure out how to deal with it. It's a profound challenge, particularly, for Democrats in Congress as they search for new leadership in the Senate and look ahead to the next round of elections.

But the issue before Mr. Bush is different. Any pollster, and any reasonable politician, can tell you what most Americans want, particularly when it comes to a domestic agenda — and yesterday's public opinion surveys confirmed it. Pick the moderate position on almost any issue — Social Security, taxes and even gay rights — and you will find the public right behind you. But lawmakers can't lead themselves into a bipartisan consensus. Only a president can create a new mood, and he can do it only by sacrificing his own short-term political advantage on occasion for the common good.

Mr. Bush will also have to reckon with the failure of both parties this year to prepare the American people for bad news or common sacrifice. For all their disagreements about the war, both Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry assured the public that Iraq can be stabilized and moved toward a semblance of democratic government, and that American troops will stay until that happens. That job will be tougher, bloodier and more expensive than either candidate has been willing to admit.

Neither man has actually suggested that any voters (other than Mr. Kerry’s Very Wealthy) will have to sacrifice anything to underwrite the cost of staying in Iraq indefinitely. And neither man has come close to preparing Americans for the possibility that the next president may have to admit that fixing the mess in Iraq has become not merely a question of what Americans can accomplish, but a losing game in which the United States is doing its global interests more harm than good.

And neither Mr. Bush nor Mr. Kerry has been forthright about the challenges of a world where American workers are going to have to be very adaptable, and American children much better educated, to compete with the ambitious and energetic next generation in places like China and India. Neither has done a particularly convincing job of explaining how Americans can expect to continue getting all the government services they have reason to expect, while the government still finds money for new challenges like homeland security.

Mr. Bush, in truth, faces a nearly impossible job, and after the inevitable, and necessary, period of disappointment, mourning, and even anger, among those who opposed his re-election, there should be a period in which his calls today for partisan healing should be taken at face value.

We entered this election season discouraged, as usual, by the caliber of the candidates running for president. As time went on, we were forced to admit — perhaps a little grudgingly — that Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry shared the steely discipline and self-possession that are critical requirements for the most difficult job on the planet.

As the votes were slowly counted last night, we hoped, like everyone else, for clarity and fairness in the ultimate result. Now, most of all, we hope that Mr. Bush will balance his enormous and justifiable self-confidence with a large dose of humility. That could mark the beginning of a White House for all the people.