Congratulations, Mr President...

Yes, believe it or not I am congratulating George Walker Bush upon his successful campaign to be re-elected President of the United States. He did win it fair and square after all, and he did behave in a fitting manner towards his defeated opponent, Senator Kerry.
However, as is the popular belief amongst the press here in Britain, I am glad Kerry did not become President, even though he deserved to, otherwise he would have to mire himself in George Bush's messes.
For George Bush in the next four years will face huge obstacles which must be surmounted.
He must successfully withdraw from Iraq, leaving behind a peaceful and democratic nation, before the American people truly do tire of the ongoing insurrection there.
He must rebuild diplomatic bridges with those countries alienated after the march to war in Iraq. The expected replacement of Colin Powell will not facilitate this at all.
He must help rescue a flagging economy, yet since it is yet another crisis of his own making how he gets out of it is anyone's bet. With the National debt approaching seven and a half trillion dollars there is a limit to what the Federal Government will be able to do by way of providing a stimulus package to the U.S. ecomomy.
He must most of all rebuild self-confidence in America, which has been persistently low since the horror of 9/11 and then the debacle in Iraq and the growing number of American deaths in that country. He must reassure Americans that they are not going to lose their jobs, then their health insurance and other benefits. The American citizen lives in a fragile world, and it is becoming ever more fragile, as more and more jobs are exported to the Far East and Mexico and Pension funds are revealed to be nearly worthless.
President Bush, the War on Terror will never be over until Osama bin Laden is caught, tried and executed, but in your last term you had your chance. You proved yourself a big man but an inadequate statesman, and the American military has suffered as a result.
In this term, you should resolve conflicts with other countries, or sooner or later you will have no European support, and strong as America is, it's not going to be strong forever, especially if you ignore and take liberties with your own people.
Act at home in the interests of your people-don't look 1000s of miles away for a solution to your problems-you will not find it. Concentrate on your 50 states and look after them, and you may just accomplish something.

As for the statement that you "have a mandate from the American people", a mandate would be if you had at least two thirds of the people voting for you. Since you won just over half of the popular vote, that means nearly half your fellow countrymen didn't want you to win. Tread carefully Mr President...