ATLANTA AND LAS VEGAS — Barack Obama may have rewritten American history and coaxed tears of joy from Oprah Winfrey on election night, but on Friday he was just another option on the big TV screens at the Freakin' Frog saloon in Las Vegas, competing with ESPN2 for the attention of the lunch crowd.
Here and around the nation, Americans had a chance to watch President-elect Obama as he held his first news conference in that capacity. His chosen topic -- the dangerously sputtering economy -- was guaranteed to dissolve any lingering post-election euphoria.
For bartender Gary Tognetti, that was just as well.
"It's important for Americans to be pragmatic," Tognetti, 32, said as he tended a cheeseburger on the grill. "He doesn't have a red cape with an S on the chest. He can't save the world."
That was an implicit message that Obama seemed to be sending in his brief news conference, broadcast live from Chicago. Speaking publicly for the first time since his victory speech, Obama was businesslike in tone and largely grave of mien.
The demeanor struck many observers -- both supporters and skeptics -- as on-target. Tognetti, who served as a state and county delegate for Obama during the Democratic primary, hoped that Obama's serious attitude and frank talk about the nation's problems would help Americans temper their expectations of the man.
"I know some people put away their cynicism during the election, and I hope they don't become cynical again if he doesn't move mountains -- which he won't," Tognetti said.
That sense of adjusting to realities permeated Dojo, an Asian restaurant on the campus of New York University.
"Anyone with any grasp of the issues understands there is no way he can live up to all of the promises," said Rich Kelleman, 38, over lunch.
Obama began: "This morning, we woke up to more sobering news about the state of our economy. . . . "
A crowd gathered around the television, including a man in a military-style jacket with an Obama button. "We've done good, huh?" he said to a woman standing next to him.
"I love him," she replied.
The love was palpable in other pockets of the country as well, including on Auburn Avenue, the historic Atlanta street where Martin Luther King Jr.'s body lies next to his former church. Obama posters were still visible in the windows of many small stores, including the Silver Star Barber Shop.
