What Now? Incredulity in Victory

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't seen the 1972 film, The Candidate and don't want to know the end, skip this post.

I recently saw The Candidate featuring Robert Redford as the fresh face running against the entrenched Republican Senator for his California seat. I'm pretty sure I heard or read somewhere recently that this movie mirrors the current Presidential race, especially if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee running against McCain. Anyway, the film ends with the Robert Redford character on victory night asking his campaign manager, "what now?"

I believe that whoever the victor is, he or she will be asking that very question. Perhaps that's what Hillary Clinton alludes to when she says "Ready on Day One." The promises that have been made on the campaign trail will have to be kept. Will it really be possible unify a divided congress (and nation)? Will it really be possible to withdraw troops from Iraq without throwing the middle east into chaos? Will it really be possible to provide universal healthcare? In the final analysis, it will be left to those who have supported their candidate passionately to hold that candidate to account with the same level of passion. We should all be, as Cornel West puts it, "critical supporters."