I'm starting this entry at 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday. I had to duck out of Cobblestones in York, site of the Democratic post-election party, in the middle of John McCain's concession speech.
I'll have lots to write about the election, and York County's role in it, in the days ahead. For now, I guess I'll just stick to what I saw tonight.
In my earlier entry tonight, I referred to the mix of celebration and consolation that might play a role in the respective parties' get-togethers.
That was certainly on display at the Republican gathering, which took place at Heritage Hills Resort in York Township.
When I got there at about 10:45, U.S. Rep. Todd Platts,R-York County, was congratulating all the local winners in statehouse winners. Platts himself had won his second consecutive, and substantial, victory over Democratic challenger Phil Avillo.
In my experience, local Republicans aren't prone to whooping and popping champagne corks. Even by their standards, however, the mood was noticeably subdued. They'd won nearly all their battles, but lost the war.
I found county Republican Chairman A. Carville "Peck" Foster going over numbers in a room upstairs. He seemed to be taking a philosophical approach to the whole thing. I guess he's been around long enough to know the caprices of politics.
I aked him if he thought the prolonged Democratic primary, with its publicity for Obama, may have played a role. He said he didn't think so.
Foster blamed virtually the entire loss on the Wall Street meltodown, for which people tended to blame McCain more than Obama -- unfairly, in Foster's opinion.
At Cobblestones in downtown York, meanwhile, the Democrats gathered in an upstairs room were celebrating loudly.
I picked up on the vibe before I even entered the building. As I pulled up to park, I saw people with Obama pins on their shirts exiting. All were smiling broadly.
Motorists around the intersection of S. George and Princess streets were honking their horns in apparent celebration. I saw groups of teenagers walking around the sidewalks, yelling "Obama!'
I wasn't surprised. As I mentioned in the previous entry, York is a big Democratic stronghold. Also, from conversations I've had in recent weeks, I know that many city residents -- black, white and Hispanic -- have embraced Obama as their own.
Well, it's 12:30 now and my editor told me I can go home. Might as well. For me and for Obama, the work is just beginning.
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