I googled, and Rick Perlstein has beat me to it: "Hope but verify."

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then they co-opt you.

How do *they* like that charge?

Aaaaaaaaagggghhhhhh!!!!!!

"You'd better get this straight. Wise up before it's too late." -- Sister Sledge

I don't think it's as simple an answer as you make it. He also quotes Time Wise at redroom approvingly as follows:

[L]et me say this, to some of those on the left--some of my friends and longtime compatriots in the struggle for social justice--who yet insist that there is no difference between Obama and McCain, between Democrats and Republicans, between Biden and Palin: Screw you.

If you are incapable of mustering pride in this moment, and if you cannot appreciate how meaningful this day is for millions of black folks who stood in lines for up to seven hours to vote, then your cynicism has become such an encumbrance as to render you all but useless to the liberation movement. Indeed, those who cannot appreciate what has just transpired are so eaten up with nihilistic rage and hopelessness that I cannot but think that they are a waste of carbon, and actively thieving oxygen that could be put to better use by others.

This election does indeed matter. No, it is not the same as victory against the forces of injustice, and yes, Obama is a heavily compromised candidate, and yes, we will have to work hard to hold him accountable. But it matters nonetheless that he, and not the bloodthirsty bomber McCain, or the Christo-fascist, Palin, managed to emerge victorious.