Associate Editor

Yes, there is life after Election Day. Even hard-core Washington-area Jewish political junkies acknowledge that -- some of them grudgingly -- as they decompress following a history-making presidential race that was as exhausting as it was riveting.

Consider District resident Suzanne Kurtz, contacted the day after Barack Obama became America's 44th president-elect, culminating an election campaign that began more than a year ago with subsonic partisan rumblings and ended a week ago Tuesday with an earthquake.

As Kurtz began easing gingerly into her new postelectoral environment, she realized that she will finally have time to catch up on housekeeping.

Sam Simon of McLean, meanwhile, discovered that he can now answer the phone without cringing and mentally scanning his bank balance.

"Instead of 80-90-hour work weeks, I'm hoping to cut back to 40-50 hours," said Ira Forman, whose life prior to Nov. 4 was dominated by a single objective: getting his guy into the White House, which did happen.

As a result, the District resident's priorities have shifted. His current agenda includes getting to know his family again, fighting with insurance companies and trying to figure out if his car can make it through the winter.

"It's a total comedown," lamented Bethesda's Susan Turnbull, who compared the election-season marathon to childbirth in terms of intensity, drama and, ultimately, reward.

And the immediate aftermath? "It feels like, 'Now what? What's next?' " she said, exhibiting some of the classic symptoms of postelection withdrawal syndrome (PEWS).

The condition can present itself in many ways, with the various PEWS markers often hinting at the afflicted individual's political party.

Some sufferers, especially Democrats, yearn wistfully for the adrenaline-juiced exhilaration of the campaign, but others, often Republicans, are relieved that it's finally over so they can get on with their lives (or in some cases, conduct intraparty postmortems).

Both Republicans and Democrats, however, have business and family matters to attend to with undivided attention, interviewees pointed out, not to mention scads of long-languishing Harry and Harriet Homeowner projects. Many members of the PEWS community now take solace in the seemingly mundane.

"I'm finally looking forward to reading a book or a newspaper for pleasure," said Kurtz, press secretary for the Republican Jewish Coalition.

"What's great is that I'm not getting so much election e-mail anymore," said North Potomac resident and GOP activist Liz Rubin, 46. "The greatest joy in my life is that my inbox is just about empty."

"My greatest joy, for the moment, is not to be asked for money all the time when the phone rings," said Democratic activist Simon, 63. "The campaign was really financially exhausting."

And physically draining, as well, according to Turnbull, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. The euphoria of eyewitnessing history-in-the-making, she conceded, does not necessarily compensate for lost sack time. "Oh gosh, am I tired," she added.

Short though it may be on thrills, the immediate postelection period is a "welcome opportunity," Turnbull added, to collect her thoughts, sleep late on occasion, and "not feel compelled to watch TV at all hours" for fresh infusions of political protein.

Reached late last week, Falls Church resident Matthew Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said he plans to recuperate in Las Vegas, "where I'll clog my arteries, pickle my liver and spend whatever I have left in my stock account at the poker tables."

Forman, his counterpart at the National Jewish Democratic Council, said he wanted to do something with his kids. "I haven't seen my family much for the last six months," he confessed, also noting, "My wife and I both have elderly parents who need our care, and, hopefully, we can take a small vacation in December. We all have lives, but sometimes you just put them on hold."

Forman said that last week, as he enjoyed a rare opportunity to catch his breath, he scrawled a postelection to-do list on a 3-by-5-inch card. It included preparing the family home for the winter, paying bills, inquiring about a new car and sparring with insurance companies over medical reimbursements.

"I need someone wiser than I to do the prioritizing well," he said.

One of Nelson Rosenbaum's top priorities is once again focusing on his business, Consumer Health Advisors, Inc. "We devote far too many resources to the election; it was ridiculous," said the GOP activist and Bethesda resident. "It was an extraordinarily dragged-out process, irrespective of who won or lost. Thank God it's over."

The same goes for politico Rosalee Tulkoff, an independent from Alexandria. Her electoral fervor, however, was temporarily blunted by other priorities. Tulkoff was distracted from the race by her daughter's wedding, scheduled for late last week, only days after the election.

"I'm relieved it's over with," she said, referring to the election, as she busied herself with nuptial preparations. "I'm looking forward to a successful new administration. Let's hope everything works out for everybody."

Republican foot soldier Shari Bolouri, also an Alexandria resident, said she was looking forward to taking a week off from the partisan wars and visiting her parents in Boca Raton, Fla., during Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, though, there was intra-party soul-searching to be done. "We have to analyze why our message didn't resonate, so we can be more effective in the next cycle," Bolouri explained. "The fact is, our message was not getting out there. Perhaps it wasn't being communicated well."

Fellow Republican loyalist Rubin embraced bipartisanship as she emphasized the importance of "saying 'mazel tov' to Obama supporters, and saying it genuinely."

She added: "There's a sense of relief; we need to move on. It's a good feeling, even though my guy lost. That's the beauty of Democracy. It was a fair fight. At least we can give President-elect Obama a honeymoon period."

In the meantime, Obama devotee Turnbull was gushing over a trove of vignettes she had collected on the long and winding campaign trail. For example, she met a couple in Marion, Ohio, who hadn't voted in the past 40 years, but were motivated somehow to canvass for Obama.

Turnbull was in Grant Park in Chicago on Election Night when a victorious Obama addressed a crowd estimated at 250,000. "I was just transfixed by the spectacle," she said. The throng included Oprah Winfrey, who was spotted vaulting over a fence on the way home like everybody else, according to Turnbull. "That was a bizarre scene," she said.

Although the election is history, politics is forever. "When you're in the midst of the maelstrom, you sometimes think you can kick back on Nov. 5, but you can't, especially if you win," said Forman, who will soon begin preparing for Obama's January inauguration.

On the other side of the aisle, Bolouri (executive director of the Republican Party of Alexandria) is planning to organize a GOP gubernatorial function in January or February. She is also gearing up for Alexandria's City Council elections in May.

"There is no rest for the weary," she said, "at least in Alexandria."