Yup, I was there, having spent much of last Saturday and election day canvassing, knocking on doors to get out the vote. The night began slowly, with O'Connell taking the early lead. Fairly soon, however, Johnson began to build a lead that got as high as 4,000 votes. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere (shades of Florida 2000?), O'Connell not only erased that, but with 87% of the precincts reporting, grabbed her own lead of 800 votes. No Florida here, however, as Port Washington and Great Neck came through. They were the last to report, and the victory was assured. And the party really began! Sure, the speeches were made at the front of the room. And sure, everybody clapped and cheered. And sure Craig (make that "Senator" Craig) Johnson got the loudest cheers -- with the possible exception of his wife, who is truly amazing. But the real action wasn't on the stage, bedecked with Nassau County Democratic bigwigs, Democratic state Senators, and Lt. Governor David Paterson. The real action was in the back of the room. Volunteers were congratulating each other, not fully realizing what victory really meant, only knowing that it felt really good. Campaign staffers, far too short on sleep, vacillated between overcome and overjoyed, and back again, as if they needed someone to tell them where to go next -- the new habit of campaigning having quickly become an addiction. Somewhere in the middle, some people were asking, "What do I do tomorrow?" But everyone wanted to enjoy the evening, the comraderie, and the moment of knowing that, "I helped make this happen." Eventually, after the speeches were done, people started slowly filing out. No, not filing, slipping away in small numbers, as the tremendous fatigue slowly overtook the equally tremendous elation. Bit by bit, the party, and the partying, ground to a finish, leaving behind the deep, warm glow that will surely carry over into tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Winning feels good.