Obama Team - Welcome to being Commander in Chief

President Barack Obama and his aides have seen their political mortality.

Confronting the complexities and dangers of the Afghan escalation has ushered in a new, more grounded reality for a White House that has gotten far on Obama’s charm, congressional might and a campaign cockiness aides carried into the West Wing.

That’s over. White House officials now are bracing for brutal months ahead, filled with second-guessing on the war plan and mounting casualties, along with deepening unemployment and a legislative slog on financial reform and climate change.

Through it all, the nation has seen the president confront a challenge that has split his party, divided him from his most loyal followers and left him no truly good choices. Here’s what we’ve learned from watching Obama and his team craft the policy and the speech that deepened U.S. involvement in Afghanistan:

They are back to reality: The war debate, which played out during a bumpy stretch for this White House, has brought many aides back to earth. Nine meetings on the complexities and extreme dangers of this war will do that. Gone are the predictions of swift, transformational change, at least for energy and financial regulations. The political front is no better. They fully expect to lose seats in the House and probably in the Senate and can only hope for a political surge as they head into Obama's reelection.

"The biggest worry is that this becomes a political football," a senior administration official said. "The concern is that you end up having to deal with constant attacks from the right and the left on this." - Politico Story

It is all so easy to blast a sitting a President when you are running for election. It is easy to second guess every decision. It is easy to say you would have done it better. Now, you have to make the tough calls and live with those decisions. The shoe is now on the other foot. Welcome to being the President.