During the campaign, Obama spoke of an array of fences that need mending. But political watchers say he should not try to do too much, too fast.......

During the campaign, Obama spoke of an array of fences that need mending. But political watchers say he should not try to do too much, too fast. Former Rep. Bill Frenzel (R-Minn.) says that as soon as Obama gets into office, he must shore up the economy.

"Whatever stimulus packages are still needed will make him look like a Santa Claus," says Frenzel, now a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution.

But then Obama will have to do a most unpopular thing — present a budget. During the campaign, Obama promised to go through the budget, line by line, and strike off programs that don't work.

"He will find that the cupboard is not quite bare, but he will also find insufficient resources to do many or most of the things his constituencies expect him to do," Frenzel says. "Nobody will mind a deficit of from half a trillion to $1 trillion in the first year, but if it doesn't decline in the out-years, he's got trouble. He will have particular trouble funding his healthcare program."

James P. Pfiffner, a professor of public policy at George Mason University, says Obama "should choose a narrow set of policy priorities that are achievable and focus most of his energy on those."

If Obama tries to do too much, Pfiffner says, he may not be successful. And he will "get the reputation of not being able to govern."