Christina Domenico | Don't stop caring

I received a promotional e-mail from Starbucks on Monday that proposed a question: "What if we cared as much on November 5th as we care on November 4th?"

Don't let the origin of this message diminish the question's merit. Today is Nov. 5 - how much do you care about the election now? Or better yet, how much will it matter tomorrow?

After such a long election season, it's easy for us to let out a sigh of relief and settle back into our politically apathetic lives. But today should be just as important as yesterday. We've shown how interested and mobilized we can be as a nation - let's keep it that way.

Some feeling of relief is expected, if not completely needed. Election 2008 has spanned two years, 50 states and the part of Russia visible from Sarah Palin's kitchen window. It's been two years of campaigns, rallies, viral videos and coast-to-coast canvassing. But it started even before that - the buzz about an Obama presidency began at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, where he hit the national scene as the party's keynote speaker.

With political coverage clogging up the airwaves for so long, its disappearance will create a silence louder than the campaigns themselves. A central part of American culture will evaporate, and the nation will welcome its disappearance.

We can all go back to our pre-election lives - if you remember 2006 clearly enough. The bloggers have lost their main source of information, the magic CNN electoral map has been stowed away for another four years, and the lady who does the dramatic voiceovers for campaign commercials is out of a job.

Heralding the end of the election rather than watching the future of our country erases the unprecedented political engagement we've experienced these past two years. We didn't vote for one day, we voted for four years of government policy.

Even on our own campus, the finality of the election will quiet our most visible student groups. Penn Democrats President Lauren Burdette, a College junior, wrote in an e-mail, "We've literally been planning events, debates, speakers, [and] political work for almost two years."

With all that behind them, both the Penn Dems and the College Republicans are taking some much-needed time off. Still, College junior Zac Byer, president of College Republicans, wrote in an e-mail that "we will focus on building the group for the future through social and educational events."

Both groups deserve a welcome break from the chaos they've dealt with over the past two years, but at the same time, it's up to them to continue to keep students engaged in this post-election world. As Byer said, "There will still be a Republican party to support."

That's what we should all keep in mind, on campus and beyond.

Our role in democracy doesn't go away with a vote.

Our elected leaders on the local and national scale rely on us to uphold the values we believe in.

For two years, we have been more actively involved in our government than ever before, and it should stay that way.

The return to apathy will likely set in before we know it though. Newsweek reported last week that an inevitable drop in cable-news viewership is on the way. With no more campaign news, the general public will turn away from news outlets, such as MSNBC, that typically cover political issues.

The entire nation has put so much effort into reaching this pivotal moment. Don't put the last two years to waste by ignoring the aftermath of yesterday's election.

Care about today. Care about January. And care about the next four years - it's what you voted for.

Christina Domenico is a College senior from North Wildwood, N.J. Her e-mail is domenico@dailypennsylvanian.com. The Undersized Undergrad appears on Wednesdays.

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