“Only one hundred and sixty two daily tracking polls to go!” my friend exclaimed a couple of weeks before the election. He sounded wistful.

I am not among the many Americans who are glad it’s over. For one thing, the long slog was itself the proving ground of experience, judgment, and leadership that allowed a skeptical electorate to become more comfortable with the man who is now our President-Elect.

For another thing: Now what?

My inbox is barren. No more daily missives from Michelle, Joe, Barack, David Plouffe, and the congressional contenders who are excessively grateful for the measly ten dollars donated through ActBlue.  Only Al Franken still calls.

Now I’m blue, feeling friendless.

Even the traffic from my real friends has slowed down. Before, I’d spend hours clicking on the links sent by a dozen different people about White Privilege or caged votes or Sarah Palin. Then I’d read the key stories on “Google News,” move on to “The New York Times,” binge on “Huffington Post’s” gossip, slideshows, and latest “SNL” clips.

Next, I’d drop in on “fivethirtyeight.com” and “realclearpolitics,” where I would stare zombie-like at the polls and the electoral maps. My poor, resigned husband would weakly call “Goodnight” from down the hall. He knew I preferred to spend the night with Jon Stewart. Finally, like a dog circling and circling before settling down, I’d take one last obsessive peek at e-mail, the electoral map, and Google News to make sure no October Surprises had exploded in the middle of the night.

Now the only items in my inbox are discount coupons from Amazon and Borders.

Recently the “Elections” section disappeared from Google News.  My forlorn fingers are itching to click. There are only so many times I can look at “The Onion” story, “Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are” (<http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_win_causes_obsessive?utm_source=embedded_video>)

Now what?

I may have to work. I may have to go to bed with my husband. If things become desperate enough, I may even have to clean my house. After a season of neglect, it’s a big mess.

With President-Elect Obama working hard to clean up the mess from the last eight years of avoidance, I suppose it’s the least I can do.

By Lorrie Goldin

Labels: Barack Obama, election withdrawal, Lorrie Goldin

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# posted by Writing Mamas Salon @ 12:01 AM