"Change has come to America." Yes, Even NYC.

It's nearly impossible to adequately express my elation at the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the White House this past Tuesday. Although I could feel the thrilling energy of election day and the polls all suggested this victory would be real, there was a part of me that remained guarded. After all, 2000 was devastating on so many levels, not the least of which was the degree to which the whole experience shook my faith in our country. On Tuesday, slowly, the dark shroud of election of 2000 lifted.

I spent a couple of hours calling likely Democrat voters in Virginia, something I had never done before that was, quite frankly, out of my comfort zone. I affected my most enthusiastic government teacher self--not so much an affect really, just the me that I presented to my students to convey my enthusaism for our country, our democracy. It's a level of enthusiasm you've seen if you've been with me in Philadelphia or at the National Archives. The most amazing thing happened--this enthusiasm was reflected back to me, genuinely, with almost every person I spoke to. And so, though I had been cautiously optimistic, the caution slowly began to be replaced with confidence.

Tuesday morning, I could feel the energy in the air--not just my own nerdy excitement over election day--but a real, pulsing, thrilling energy. Everyone was excited about voting. People shared stories about waiting in line to vote...and not a single person ever complained about it. Even here in the Center of the Universe, where we don't like to wait for anything. And as I watched the returns, first Pennsylvania, then Ohio, then the statement of mathematical impossibility...I still could not quite believe it. Charlie Gibson announced "The polls have closed in California...and at 11pm Eastern time, Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States." And moments later, I watched Senator McCain deliver his very gracious concession speech. This was real. Cheers, horns, people in the streets, all of it real.

On Wednesday, I noticed, as Jon Stewart did, that New Yorkers were smiling at each other, making "eye contact," that freaked him out. I laughed at this, having noticed it too, and figuring it would be short lived. When I was out at the Post Office yesterday and someone smiled at me, I thought, "What is going on? I'm dressed for the gym, is this man hitting on me??" And then I remembered: Change Has Come to America. As one of my friends pointed out today "people are happy!"

I can watch the news again and be informed without ending up furious and having that sense of hopelessness that's shrouded the past eight years. I was excited, rather than annoyed, that PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA'S first press conference cut into one of my shows because that meant TiVo had captured it for me. I'm about to make change.gov my landing page because I just love seeing the words "change.gov."

This morning, while riding the Subway, there were a couple of people randomly yelling at each other for looking sideways and I thought, "OK, there it is, my New York is back." Yet as I was walking home, I passed a stranger and we smiled at each other and made eye contact.

"Change has come to America." But we do still have the 24-hour news cycle that generates obsession over the selection of a family pet.

Small steps, I suppose.