The Onion, as usual, got it absolutely right( is it satire if it’s true?). A video published shortly after the elections was titled “Obama win causes obsessive backers to see how empty their lives really are” –

After 10 months of poring over polls, gaffes and campaign leaks, the day after seems unpleasantly empty. Sure, for the political junkies in search of a fix, the blogosphere is trying to procure supply in the form of transition team tidbits, but there is a sense of desperation, as sites expressly created to cash in on campaign fever are suddenly waking up to the fact that their lucrative revenue stream has been capped overnight. Nowhere is the despondency more evident than in  comedy circles, where comedians are discovering how patriotic they really were when they wished for an Obama victory. I sensed a quiet panic in Jon Stewart’s eyes yesterday as he realized how difficult it was going to be to make fun of an Obama presidency.

Meanwhile congratulations continue to pour in from around the world celebrating the wisdom of the American people. But let’s not forget the millions of foot soldiers who phoned complete strangers, knocked on hostile doors, emailed and talked to friends and family till their voices were hoarse and their fingers were numb. And let’s give a little credit to the man who inspired them, a man born with a disadvantageous color and an unfortunate name who still dared to dream the impossible dream. Only in America.

Will things really be different this time around? Is the nation’s 8-year long nightmare finally over? Now we know it is not a matter of passively waiting to see what happens. President-elect Obama( I suspect the other two parts of his name will recede into the background when he is doing well and surface only in recrimination) has already begun the process of communication and transparency by inaugurating a site called change.gov which will be used to communicate with Americans who are thirsting for a say in how their country is run. And after a brief rest, many of the 3 million people who dedicated 10 months of their lives into his( and their) campaign will be asking, “Tell us what we can do for our country.”