Obama has said he would be willing to meet, without preconditions. with leaders of Iran, Cuba and Venezuela

Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election puts a Democrat in charge of the White House for the first time since Bill Clinton left office in January 2001.

* Obama has promised an orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and a greater focus on the war in Afghanistan. Democrats will call on him to carry out his pledge, but the gains that have been made in Iraq in recent months may make it tempting for Obama to stop short of his pledge to pull out one combat brigade per month until they are all withdrawn.

* In order to stimulate the weak U.S. economy, Obama and the Democrats are likely to reach an agreement on a second stimulus package to try to get consumers spending again, unless such a package is approved before Obama takes office January 20.

* Obama is likely to take further steps to regulate the financial industry in the wake of a
credit crisis that infected Wall Street and triggered a stock meltdown that cost
Americans billions of dollars in retirement savings.

* Obama ran on a pledge to give Americans who make less than $200,000 a year a tax cut, thus reaching 95 percent of taxpayers, and raise taxes on those making above $250,000
a year. With him and Democratic congressional leaders in charge, this pledge may be scaled back to give fewer people a tax cut and to include more people among those who would face higher taxes.

* Obama has said he would be willing to meet, without preconditions. with leaders of countries hostile to the United States, such as Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. Look for increased U.S. diplomatic activity with those countries with the aim of determining whether an Obama meeting with the leaders would be worthwhile.