WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The inauguration of U.S. president-elect Barack Obama is still more than 40 days away, but the world has already talked about America in a post-Bush narrative.

Indeed, as the outgoing President George W. Bush gets fewer headlines, people in the United States and abroad now watch more closely what is going on in Chicago, where Obama's transition office is based.

In many ways, Obama has long been received by the U.S. electorate as the "anti-Bush" candidate. Actually, many would agree that his election owed much to many of Bush's mistakes, failures and unpopularity.

As Obama is taking over the country, he is also taking over the daunting problems left by Bush's eight-year tenure -- the economic crisis, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorism and a long list of other issues, for which there are no quick fixes.

　　ECONOMY TO DEFINE OBAMA-ERA

The latest news on the economic front underlines the fact tackling the worsening economic crisis is Obama's top priority.

Talk of a possible bailout of the auto industry and the U.S. government's latest announcement that 533,000 jobs had been lost in November reveal the depth and breadth of the economic crisis.

At no time in the United States' modern political history, as the Washington Post puts it, has a president stepped into a dire moment as Obama will next month.

Former President Bill Clinton was faced with a sluggish economy when he took office in 1992, but it was a "small deal" compared with what is happening now.

Furthermore, as Obama won the election under the banner of "Change," there are ultra-high expectations for him to quickly reverse the economic slide.
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