What's Next?

President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama: the complete antithesis of President George W. Bush. It's a beautiful thing, and still quite surreal that he actually pulled it off. There were a number of expletives coming out of my mouth at 11PM Tuesday night when CNN called the race, and I will remember where I was for the rest of my life. Truly amazing.

It really is quite stunning that only 4 years after choosing to vote for President Bush, the American voters chose to vote for President-Elect Obama this year. You wouldn't think that this country -- or any country, really -- would be capable of such a massive swing, but alas, there it is.

Looking back at the 2-year campaign, it was like nothing this country has ever seen. The massive battle in the Democratic Party between Sens. Clinton and Obama -- the presumptive nominee and the underdog -- for the nomination was seen as the beginning of the party's destruction, but in the end it only served to strengthen it. Sen. McCain's shipwreck of a campaign was a sight to see, never staying on course and coming dangerously close to crashing before the race was over (with Sarah Palin hanging off the side, dragging them down). The negative ads. The slanderous remarks. The rallies. The excitement. And now its over.

And though it all ended up in a electoral college landslide (and a hefty popular vote majority for Obama), one is still left with questions:

Why wasn't poverty discussed more in the campaign?

Or education?

What happened to the John McCain that we saw recently at the Al Smith Dinner and giving his concession speech on Tuesday night? If he had shown up for the entire campaign, I guarantee that the election, while it may not have gone the other way, would have been a lot closer.

What was the McCain campaign really thinking when they picked Gov. Sarah Palin at the VP nominee? And if Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska wins reelection only to be voted out by his Senate colleagues, will she run in the special election to replace him, thus allowing her to go to Washington to beef up her resume for 2012?

Three of those questions we may never know, and the last will come in time. But I do know that now is when it gets really exciting. I have no plausible memory of the Clinton-Bush transition of 2001, so I am extremely excited for the next 74 days (though I wish January 20 came much sooner than that), and the 4 (8?) years that will follow. And although I didn't volunteer or donate money, more than any time in my life I feel like the next president will be my president, leading my generation, and my causes. I'm excited for what the future will bring under President Obama, and I'm eager to do my part and to get involved.