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GREENSBORO - You're wrong.

No matter what your views on politics, that's what someone thinks about the opinions you cherish, and they're probably saying it at top volume at this exact moment on talk radio or the Internet.

When it comes to politics, we live in a deeply divided country.

Many of us pat ourselves on the back for holding the beliefs we hold, and we think those who disagree are not just wrong, but somehow different.

Stinking rich and out of touch. Or a secret Muslim/atheist/communist.

Politics has always been a touchy subject - now it's a blood sport.

Enter President-elect Barack Obama, who campaigned as someone who promises to heal those divisions. Nice words on the trail, but how will that translate into reality?

Can Obama win over his harshest critics, or is the talk radio echo chamber so toxic that some people will never listen? Throw in the fact that he will be the country's first black president, and are there some people who will never accept him as their leader?

Is it possible in these political times to invoke a sense of shared purpose and sacrifice for a common goal? Can it happen with a magic combination of words? Or will it take fattening up our 401(k) accounts again to make us happy?

From many, can we become one again?

The skeptics

At Pleasant Ridge and Carlson Dairy roads - where Greensboro runs against Summerfield - the gas pumps at Wilson's Grocery offer a 10-cents-per-gallon discount if you pay in cash.

Across Pleasant Ridge, the headstones of the tidy graveyard beside Hopewell Wesleyan Church stand sentinel over the pumps. The yellow marquee in front of the little white church tells drivers of passing cars and pickups "No matter what, God is in control."

The cluster of men gathered at the country store Wednesday have their doubts about the new president.

Inside the store, beneath a sign that reads "Friends Gather Here," is a corner alcove - a sitting area with five plastic, outdoor chairs in between a TV set and the door to the restroom.

Guthrie Brown, who just turned 80 and has lived nearby on Inman Road for 45 years, took a seat with a 55-cent can of RC Cola and a pack of Nabs.

"Some of the ones I voted for won, and some of them didn't. That's just the way it goes. But I could see this coming for a long time," Brown said. "He's got to remember there's a whole lot of people out there that didn't vote for him. He's gonna have to reach out to those people if he wants to be a real leader. You can't lead half a country."

Brown's life has been one of service to his country. He was drafted in 1952 during the Korean War, but the Army sent him to serve in Germany.

His son also served, first in the Air Force and later in the Coast Guard, so soldiers are never far from the white-haired man's thoughts. He hopes it's the same with Barack Obama.

"We still got our men over yonder," Brown said. "They're scattered all over in Iraq and (Afghanistan) and wherever there's fighting. And he better take care of them. If he wants to unite us, he better not turn his back on them."

Steve McMillian, a young farmer, sat down and joined the conversation. As McMillian wolfed down his second softball-size pizza, still steaming from the microwave, he took some good-natured ribbing from Lee Parrish.

"Hush up," McMillian said, "I didn't have no breakfast, so I'm hungry."

McMillian's advice for Obama - a man he didn't vote for - is this: Speak up. Prove it. Get something done.

"If he wants to unite us, he can start by putting money in hard-working people's pockets," McMillian said. "I'll tell you where he can start: He can cut taxes and get rid of the taxes on gas. But I don't think he's got the (guts). Even if he did, this ain't just about one man. There's 400-some people in Congress he's got to deal with, and I don't know if he's got the (guts) to stand up to them."

The fans

Raw joy erupted in some corners of Greensboro when it became clear Obama would ascend to the White House.

At Greensboro College, students gathered in a screaming, crying, shouting mass of emotion, said freshman Loryn Green, who cast her first presidential ballot, for Obama. "It was unreal. A lot of hugging, kissing. People you wouldn't normally touch."

But the day after the election, it was clear to her the steep climb Obama faces.

"The work starts today," she said, reflecting on the war and the country's economic turmoil.

"He's got so much to do. Now that he's elected, he's got big shoes to fill. I know he can do it."

But unifying the divided may not be possible across the board, Green said. "You can't please everyone. It's politics."

For many, the way to unify the country is to focus on a tie that binds us: the economy.

"I'm not big into politics," said High Point University student Chris Ryder. "But I feel like this election definitely makes a difference for us, for people my age. I'm a senior and next year I'm going to be looking for a job, we're trying to pay college loans, we're going out into the world. So it feels good that we helped decide this election."

The Iraq war is the first thing Obama should deal with, Ryder said, and it may be the most divisive issue he faces.

"People kind of forgot about that because of the economy, but that's the most important thing," Ryder said. "He's got to handle that right to bring people together on the decision, on how he handles it."

At Oak Hollow Mall, Deshaun Oldham said it's time for a change in the country.

"It's not even so much about him being the first black president," Oldham said. "I don't want him to just be the president of black people. I want him to be everybody's president."

Obama's acceptance speech showed that he wants to deal with bigger issues than race, Oldham said. He said the next president can do that by working with faith leaders from every religion.

"We need to get everybody together, whatever their religion, as one nation," Oldham said.

"If he can bring those people together and start everyone working together despite those differences, then we're going to be good."

The impossible dream?

When it comes to unifying the country, Obama can't be expected to do it all, said George Mitchell, an adult student at Greensboro College.

"He has to encourage people to dig into their own selves to bring about change," Mitchell said on the way to class Wednesday. "He can't do it all by himself. Not one person. Not in four years."

Pushing her cart down the aisle at the Eastchester Drive Harris Teeter in High Point, Helena Hendricks said she isn't sure there is anything Obama could do to bring the whole nation together. But she said that may not be necessary to be a great president.

"When you think about the great presidents that we have had, they weren't always the most popular," said the retired teacher and grandmother of three. "They don't always bring people together, but maybe they do the right thing for the nation even if everyone doesn't agree with them. Think about Lincoln, think about Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. They were great men who were our leaders when we were very divided. People vilified them, people didn't come together over them. But that didn't matter."

Hendricks, who remembers segregation in North Carolina, never believed that she would live to see a black president.

"But with things the way they are now in the country, I think people realize there are some things bigger than race," Hendricks said. "The country realized what was important and did something that made history."

At the Target on Lawndale Drive, Constance Pretlor worried this week during a cigarette break about those who won't accept Obama.

She sometimes has dark thoughts about the possibility of an extremist. It's not as if presidents haven't been assassinated before.

"Everybody knows he's the first black president," she said. "It makes me worry."

Cora Chambers, a student at Bennett College, said that Obama has taken pains to reach out to everyone.

Some people might not be ready for a black president, she said. But at this point, that's the reality, ready or not.

"If not, they're going to have to be," she said. "There's no need to cry over spilled milk. It's time for change."

Is it up to us?

At the Walmart on Battleground Avenue, Thelma Harris got out of her car. About the same time, Earl Mooring got out of his.

On a superficial level, the two retirees didn't have much in common. He is white, a lifetime North Carolina resident. She is black and has lived all over.

They are the kind of people who talk to each other all too rarely these days.

But on the day after the election, all it took was a kind word to spark a dialogue.

Guessing she was an Obama supporter, Mooring commented that Harris must be feeling pretty good that day. She was.

They struck up a conversation and strolled into the store together, looking for all the world like old friends.

Sure, a conversation - even a million conversations - won't change everything. There's still a lot of history to overcome.

"I don't want people to think because he's in the White House, that race relations and politics have changed," Harris said.

Still, it means something, she said.

"The White House was built by slaves," she said. "We've come a long way."

Harris sees a path to common ground through simple steps. Listen to everyday people, she said. They have good ideas. Bring in some Republicans. Talk to each other.

Mooring knows people who aren't too fond of Obama.

"There's people, especially in the mountains, saying it's going to be messed up," he said. But "the Lord sent him there for a reason."

And if Obama strikes the right tone, it can work.

"If he goes easy, I think he'll do it right," he said. "I got a dog at home, and if you talk to him nice, he'll do anything you want. If you talk to him hateful, he won't."

And after a few more minutes of conversation, Harris and Mooring went their separate ways.

In the end, it was just a moment.

But moments, sometimes, can mean everything.

"It's a changed world," Mooring said. "But things are going to work out good."

Staff reporters Joe Killian, Jeff Mills and Lanita Withers contributed.