After the election, real issues surfacing?

Now that the boxing match of the presidential election is over, it seems like the media's focus really has turned to the issues. Thankfully, they're no longer obligated to run compare/contrast pieces about how McCain or Obama might have handled X, Y, or Z catastrophe facing our country. So it seems they've moved exclusively to wondering how Obama will handle catastrophes A through Z.

I'm glad to see health care rising to the surface on NYTimes.com. Today there's a column called "The Wrong Place to be Chronically Ill," shaming the United States in a comparison with several other industrialized countries. They're also debating whether Obama's ought to think big (or small) about the health care crisis.

It's almost like the election were a giant, Super Bowl-sized distraction. I felt it from the moment Obama stepped onstage to make his victory speech. At the moment of John McCain's concession, his status as an antagonist became irrelevant, and the petty stuff that had filled our pages wouldn't suffice anymore. Obama has plenty else to think about, and I'm glad to see those things thrust before readers as well. Not that I'm excited about everyone encouraging him to move center. But still ...