Scenes from the revolution

Last night, I started my evening at Manuel's Tavern, the preferred watering hole of Democrats in this town. I was amazed by the traffic just to get down N. Highland Ave., only to find that it was caused by people waiting to pull into the parking lot just so they could confirm that there were, in fact, no parking spaces left. I parked a few blocks away and walked into an absolutely jampacked bar. Strangely, as the night wore on it seemed to waver between insanely crowded and just ridiculously crowded.

Every time they showed Obama ahead in any state on the TV screens showing CNN everywhere, people would start to clap. They did this even when only 3,000 votes were in from states like South Carolina that were guaranteed to go Republican. I also heard more stupid things in line for the bathroom at Manuel's last night than I've heard in weeks. The caliber of Democratic thinkers there last night was not high, let's just put it that way. Still, it was nice to be among likeminded folks as we all worried about the results.

Once things looked pretty safely in hand thanks to the calls of Ohio and Pennsylvania for Obama, we headed to the Hyatt where the Democratic Party of Georgia was having its big throwdown bash. Though we spent most of the night in the suites, we did make a brief trip down to the ballroom just after the networks called the election for Obama. To call it a madhouse would be a gross understatement. I have never, in my life, seen such expressions of pure joy over a political result as I saw in that ballroom last night. People were crying, screaming, dancing, singing, and just generally turning all the love and relief and pride in their hearts out to the world. It was so spectacular.

The mood in the suites was just as exuberant, and probably a little more alcohol-fueled. We cracked jokes about Sarah Palin, I witnessed a bearhug of epic proportions between two men, and I met some folks who'd actually heard of this here blog. (That always surprises me when it happens.) The predominant emotion on the faces of these diehard political operatives was simply relief. Our days of wandering through the wilderness of complete political heartbreak were finally over. While the results of the Senate race were initially discouraging, once we realized that the early vote had not yet been counted we resolved not to give up hope.

And so, after many hours and way too much alcohol, after having a strange woman tell me that she thought I made a lovely couple...with a married friend of mine, after having someone who shall go unnamed repeatedly tell Griftdrift and I to "go blog or something," after seeing the Young Democrats' suite strewn with bottles of every possible stripe and a hilarious smattering of food from the vending machines, after witnessing more bad bar behavior at Manuel's than I ever thought I'd see, after realizing the strange similarities between election night and Dragon*Con at the Hyatt (complete with someone wondering about where the orgies were), after seeing a woman in a dress made entirely out of American flags trying to get a ride home, after watching McCain and Obama give perhaps the best speeches of the entire election, after crying and shaking my head in disbelief that it finally happened...

I made it home. And hell yes, my head hurts today. But it was so worth it.

I'll give some more meaningful attempt at thought of what it all means a little later on, but for now this is my report from the field. It was a crazy awesome night.