The Wait On Our Shoulders

By Amy Yensi--

The entire country will hold its breath until all the polls are closed and the last vote is counted. We will all then sit at the edge of our seats and stare motionless at the pundits, the poll numbers, and the high-tech Electoral College maps, and wait.
We have been waiting for what seems like forever, to finally know who will be the new captain of this unsteady ship. Now more than ever, Americans are aware of how policies and leadership in government affect them.

No matter who wins, about half of us will be disappointed on Wednesday; the winner will only savor his triumph for a little while though. The pessimism of the last few months is beginning to feel like a heavy weight on all of our shoulders. We need someone to steer us in the direction that alleviates that weight or at least makes us feel that he is trying to do all he can to reach that destination—or at least to calmer waters.

This fear and anxiety about the economy has proven how intangible things like policies, can have repercussions that are undeniably real. The winner will have to address any variations between perception and reality that have been established in the eyes of Americans during this hard-fought campaign—failure to do so can lead to a potential backlash. If John McCain wins, he will have to prove that he too can inspire and mobilize people to hope. I Barack Obama wins, he will have to prove that he can do more than inspire, he must prove that he can lead just as well if not better than those with much more experience.
Some of us will go to bed late to here the final tally; others will wait to find out first thing Wednesday morning. We will all uniformly exhale. Only to hold our breaths again waiting for better days to come.