A mandate for Clinton.

Next month, for the first time since the 1976 elections, a Democrat will be sworn in as president of the United States of America. Bill Clinton and his vice presidential running mate Al Gore did what seemed impossible only a year ago--they defeated George Bush and the Republican Party. I believe it's significant that a chief architect of the Democrats' victory is Democratic National Committee Chairman Ron Brown, the first African-American to head the national committee of a major political party.

Now the real work begins. The American people have asserted through their votes that giving the Clinton-Gore team a chance to lead the country out of these difficult economic times was preferable to giving Bush and Dan Quayle a second chance. The people are not willing to wait four more years for more jobs, a reduced budget deficit, improved schools for our children and greater access to education and business opportunities. It's clear that the most pressing issues facing our nation, while having global implications, are domestic. And the safety and security of our country relies on well-considered and immediate action.

Much has been made, most eloquently by the independent campaign of Ross Perot, of the conspiracy of bureaucracy and gridlock between the Bush-Quayle White House and Congress. Clinton and Gore must realize that this will no longer be an acceptable excuse for a lack of progress against our nation's problems--Bush's defeat is proof of that.

The Clinton-Gore team must not forget those whose economic opportunity is obscured by poverty, hopelessness and despair. And Clinton, especially, will have his character tested in ways that will make the assaults he withstood regarding his waffling on the Gulf War and his attempt to avoid the draft pale by comparison. Clinton must lead government to reinvest in urban America and, by both policy and example, move private industry to follow its lead.

"Reinvest in America" cannot become to the Clinton administration what "Read my lips" became for President Bush--an empty campaign promise and a symbol of unwillingness to shoulder ultimate responsibility for the state of the nation. African-Americans paid a high price for the domestic performance of the Bush-Quayle years. We must remain vocal and increase our political activity on the local, state and national levels to ensure that attention and resources will be directed to solving the problems plaguing our families and communities. That means we must hold the Clinton-Gore team to the same demanding standard to which we held the Bush-Quayle administration.