Next 100 Days Promise Real Test

President Obama’s efforts to reach out domestically and internationally in his administration’s infancy “have paid off remarkably,” Howard Fineman writes in Newsweek, but there are tough times ahead. “To make good on the promise of days 1-100,” Fineman writes, “Obama will have to deal with—and in some cases infuriate—his and our own best friends.” And that includes “liberal allies” and international ones.

Obama has “studiously ignored” trade promises to unions, and the financial crisis will make relations worse. Add coal-state Dems and deficit hawks in his own party, and Fineman sees Obama paying a steep price for radical shifts in the domestic economy. Obama will also have to “lean on” allies abroad to secure peace and prosperity. Fineman has some advice on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Maybe save it for your 300th day.” (More President Obama stories.)