Obama victory stirs hopes for Bay Area economy

Although voters changed little in Washington, returning President Barack Obama to the White House and leaving Congress still contentiously divided, the election has stirred hope that the Bay Area could get a boost from the president's next four years.

With Obama's previous preoccupation -- health reform -- already passed, "now he can say, 'time to tackle the next big problems," said Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. He and others say Obama's priorities should include everything from putting more people to work and further boosting cleantech industries to shoring up the housing sector and taking other steps to reinvigorate business. But some experts caution that President Obama can only do so much, especially if Congress and global markets don't cooperate.