Commentary: A letter to the losers - CNN.com
This interesting article from Donna Brazile has tips for those of us feeling a certain emptiness after the campaign. Although she wrote it for one group, IMO this advice is useful for people on both sides. Here are a few paragraphs to give you a sample:
"Campaigns are not for the fainthearted. They are tough -- mentally, physically and spiritually.
Once a campaign ends, an emptiness comes over you. You find yourself struggling to figure out how to become human again. Suddenly, you're going to the grocery store, reading the entire newspaper instead of the clips, and, yes, speaking in complete sentences, not sound bites or barked replies.
I know what it's like to lose a presidential campaign or two or three. No matter how close the results (Gore-Lieberman) or wide the blowout (Walter Mondale-Geraldine Ferraro and Michael Dukakis-Lloyd Bentsen), you're in a state of emotional disrepair and in need of a home-cooked meal.
Acknowledge your success. Think about the nonstop pace that you thrived in but would crush less hardy individuals. You lived for and met multiple deadlines. You essentially lived with the people you work with and, God bless you, you didn't kill them, though you probably picked up a few bad habits and gained more than a few unwanted pounds. Now you're sitting at that desk and trying to figure out what to do with everything you've accumulated throughout the quest to reach the city hall, the statehouse, Capitol Hill or the White House.
No matter how hard you try to contain it, you're both angry and sad. Try not to vent and point fingers. It only creates wounds, mostly self-inflicted, and worse, the candidate you believed in and gave your all for doesn't deserve it."