Americans have high expectations of Barack Obama once he takes office and they also have a long list of priorities of the issues they want him to address, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Dec. 11-14. And, of course, while high expectations reflect a level of confidence in a leader, they also carry the political risk of what happens if he does not meet them.

Seventy-percent of Americans expect Obama to improve the U.S. image abroad, 68 percent expect him to bring about health care reform, 67 percent say he will implement policies to deal with global warming, 64 percent believe he will end U.S. involvement in Iraq and 46 percent believe he will improve the economy. But the issue of the economy stands out because it is the only one of these goals in which a majority (52 percent) don't believe Obama will achieve it.

There are some significant partisan divides when it comes to these expectations. On all five, the gap between Democrats and Republicans in terms of having faith in Obama on these issues ranges from 26 points (global warming) to 47 points (the economy). Independents believe in Obama more than Republicans (though much less than Democrats), but on the economy, only 39 percent expect him to be able to improve it compared to 68 percent of Democrats