With John Kasich dropping out of the 2016 presidential race today, there is now a likely Republican nominee for President of the United States.

Okay, let me catch my breath.

It was an insane primary season for the Republican Party. It was just this past August when 16 candidates declared themselves as a viable choice for the nomination, all with high optimism and strong opinions. From that point on, it was an absolute slugfest. The storylines, the debates, the interviews, and the social media all made this high stakes competition an absolute spectacle. It was better than must-see-TV, it was a real life drama centered on the right to run for the most powerful position on the planet. Of course, there was no shortage of twists and turns.

I admit it, I couldn’t keep my eye off it. I watched a lot of CNN, followed all the candidates on Twitter, and even started reading political blogs such as FiveThirtyEight. The race was just so gripping, so intense, so personal. The craziest part? It just seemed to get better and better.

The reality show elements definitely added a lot of juice to this one. You had eliminations, you had drama, you had manipulation, and, most importantly, you had characters.

It is an understatement to say that no character stood out more than Donald J. Trump. Heck, just look at this blog. It takes a lot for me to write once about a person, let alone FOUR times. However, during the primary season I wrote about how I thought he was intelligent, how I thought he was fascinating, how I thought he was a poor sport, and how I thought he had doomed his campaign. Say what you want about those first three topics, one thing is clear about the fourth one: I was dead wrong.

What this man did was pretty spectacular.

But so were a lot of other people. Trump was discredited before he even entered the race and was written off numerous times during it. Love him or hate him, Trump has defined the meaning of resiliency and showed us what it looks like to be a competitor.

To be completely honest, I am a little exhausted from the primary season. It wasn’t for the faint of heart. We are now staring directly at the undoubtedly most bitter and outrageous presidential election we most likely will ever see. That is why I said above that I need to catch my breath. As someone who isn’t that interested in politics, I have definitely gotten my fill over the last several months. Now it looks like I need to prepare myself for something that will be even more extreme.

Donald Trump vs. Hilary Clinton is going to be brutal. We are looking at six months of pure mania. I am excited to see them debate each other and I am interested to see their revised social media strategies but I don’t know if I am ready for the day-to-day grind. But I guess it is one of those things where it doesn’t matter if you are ready or not, it is going to come regardless.

I am not a Democrat nor Republican so I will monitor this race without a dog in the fight. However, I know I will be drawn in and will most likely have a preference come November. Pace yourself, it is going to be a long, bumpy, and CRAZY ride. Don’t Blink.