With no more elections to worry about, President George W. Bush has an opportunity - and a choice.

What he does with the opportunity and the choices he makes over the next four years will say much about him as a person and leader.

He can press a partisan agenda, simply because he can and because he doesn't want to resist the pressures from some within the Republican Party. This is the path many pundits are predicting for Bush's second term, and the path many embittered political foes expect.

On the other hand, Bush can now afford to try to build bipartisan support and to bridge the divisions so clearly illustrated in the red-blue electoral map of the nation. He can try to be, as he promised in his 2000 campaign, a "uniter, not a divider."

Given the likely howls of protest from hard-liners in the GOP, this approach would not be easy. But it would be best for the country, and it might even be best for the long-term interests of the Republican Party.

For the next four years, Bush is freed from re-election strategizing and catering (or pandering) to different interest groups. He is now largely free to govern from his heart.

With his own political future no longer an issue, his thoughts should shift to a historical perspective - to his legacy. And it could become clear in not too many months which course Bush has chosen to follow.

Action on some issues will not be a matter of choice. The conflict in Iraq, the global war on terrorism, homeland security and reforming the U.S. intelligence system cannot be avoided.

Other issues Bush pledged to pursue, as recently as yesterday's press conference, are further reforms in public education, simplifying the tax code and addressing the deficits facing Social Security.

Beyond those not-insignificant challenges, Bush should tackle the budget deficit and provide leadership on putting a brake on runaway federal spending - something he failed to do in his first term, much to the dismay of many fiscal conservatives.

He also should revisit energy policy, with an eye toward easing, and eventually ending, dependence on imported oil and fossil fuels in general. He should press for higher mileage standards for cars, SUVs and trucks. He can support policies to accelerate the acceptance of high-efficiency hybrid cars and encourage the introduction of modern, high-mileage diesel engines.

On the environmental front, Bush could urge his administration to propose an alternative, or changes, to the Kyoto Protocol, recently accepted by Russia.

Despite the campaign rhetoric about presidents creating or losing jobs, the government rarely creates or loses jobs - except government jobs. The president and government policies can, however, assist or hinder business in job creation. The loss of manufacturing jobs and acceleration in outsourcing should be addressed, even if the current trends cannot be reversed.

Rising health care costs is another problem that should be attacked from several angles. Bush's claim that rampant lawsuits have contributed to price increases cannot be ignored, but the recently passed Medicare drug benefit law that prohibits Medicare from bulk-buying drugs to earn lower prices should be changed.

On the international front, Bush could take a more personal role in dealing with challenges in the Middle East, North Korea, Iran and elsewhere. It would be an uphill battle, but Bush also could put some energy into improving relations with our European allies.

There is much that Bush could do to illustrate even a minimal mid-course correction from the path followed over the past four years.

If he is a compassionate conservative, he can push agendas to give that term real meaning.

It clearly won't be easy. Partisanship seems to be a permanent part of American politics, and much bitterness will linger in the hearts of the Democrats who were so committed to denying Bush a second term.

The nation is still deeply divided - by politics, culture and geography. Bush can try to do something about the bitterness of that division, but not without help from Democrats.

Whether or not Bush does chart some course changes over the next four years will reveal something about the man and his character. Though he'll likely encounter resistance from across the political spectrum, Bush should make efforts to ease his policies more toward compassion, more toward getting things done - and more toward the center. After all, that's where most Americans are, regardless of whether their state showed up blue or red on Tuesday night.

Most Americans would welcome less partisanship and more accomplishments. There are many serious problems facing the nation; cooperation and honesty will be required to address them effectively.

Such course corrections and changes would build a foundation for a legacy that Bush could be proud of, and also benefit the Republican Party in the long run.

- J.L.W.III