For all the right reasons, millions of people around the word celebrated the inauguration of President Barack Obama on Tuesday.As the nation’s first black president, Obama is a tangible figure of progress in our country. He has promised to bring sweeping change in a time of economic crisis, war and overall uncertainty.But among all of Obama’s promises and pledges, there’s one issue he can’t forget: the protection of the Gulf Coast — not just New Orleans.Obama can’t forget we’re still struggling down here. We still need help rebuilding. We still need help coming back.The issue of the Gulf Coast is still alive on Capitol Hill, thanks in large part to many of our homegrown public servants who are keeping focus on the issue.Democratic political strategist and University alumna Donna Brazile spoke Sunday on ABC News’ show “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” saying she had a meeting with former President Bush to recap the government’s hurricane response. Her impressions, she said, are that Bush has done some “soul searching” about how the government could have done things differently.We as Louisiana residents need to do our part to continue to keep the spotlight on our recovery. As a news organization, we will continue to cover the issue. And as residents, we need to keep the pressure on our senators and representatives to keep pushing the issue in Washington, D.C.It’s encouraging that, according to Brazile, Bush wants to be involved in the future recovery. But of course we’ll wait to see that happen. We welcome any help we can get.But now it’s Obama’s turn not to forget Louisiana. These next four years could go a long way in keeping this place afloat.–Contact The Daily Reveille’s opinion staff at [email protected]