In an Esquire article entitled "Why President Obama Will Never Be Barack Obama Again," news dramatist Tom Junod gets a case of the vapors while lamenting Tuesday's election results. Let us fan him while Harry Reid fetches smelling salts.

[T]here was one thing that was never in doubt when we saw and heard Obama on the stump: his ownership of his gift. By the way he carried himself, we could tell that he had always had it, and because he always had it, we could be sure that he always would have it.

Barack Obama's gift was so musical that one has to resort to musical comparisons to explain what might be left now that it's fled him. Dylan was never Dylan after the motorcycle accident any more than Elvis was Elvis after the Army: what they didn't lose they had to wrestle with, and no longer was the electricity effortless.

Fear not, Tom! He'll always be "Barack Hussein Obama" to his foes. Sigh. [Esquire]