When It's Over ... I'm Missing You

It is hard to believe that the 2008 presidential race is finally nearing its end. It has been like political manna for the past 20 months and consumed a larger part of the national conversation and pop culture than past elections. But like most good things, there is an expiration date and that day looms near. Below are some thoughts by Eugene Robinson that struck a responsive chord.

In a week and a half, it'll be over. What will we do to fill the void in our lives?

Opinion surveys, voter registration totals and cable television ratings indicate that Americans have been engrossed by the marathon presidential campaign. That's no surprise, given the first-in-history nature of the candidacies, the host of crucial problems we face and the sense that the outcome may determine the course -- and the prospects -- of our nation for many years to come.

But there's a fine line between being engrossed and being obsessed, and many of us have crossed it. ...

We're now at a bittersweet point that's analogous to reaching the middle of the final chapter. We want to race ahead and find out what happens. We want to know if our hero -- Obama or McCain -- is victorious. But we also know that when we finally get the answer, we'll have to exit the alternative reality of narrative, atmosphere and emotion that we've inhabited for months. We'll be bereft.

We'll have something to savor, though. After Election Day has come and gone, we -- at least those of us who bother to vote -- will know that the time we spent obsessing about the campaign was worth it. That's because we'll be the ones who decided how the story ended.

Source: Robinson, Eugene. "Last Chapter of a Storybook Campaign," Washington Post, 10/24/08.