MICHAEL MCDERMOTT/SPPSObama supporters react to Sen. John McCain's concession speech on Tuesday night. Gathered at Awful Arthur's restaurant to watch election returns, Obama staffers cheered and cried when Obama carried Virginia.
Democrat Mark Warner pummeled Republican Jim Gilmore for Virginia's open Senate seat last night, giving control of both of Virginia's seats to Democrats, a circumstance that hasn't occurred since 1970.
In an election that saw unprecedented amounts of money spent on both sides of the political spectrum, the Illinois senator ultimately bested his opponent by winning several key and traditionally Republican states. Gov. Tim Kaine provided a victory speech for the newly elected president at the Virginia Democratic election night headquarters.
"I could tell when I was out in the precincts today that people know," Kaine said. "They knew that if they waited a little longer, then they would not have to wait any longer. He's our president."
Barack Obama's political campaign received large amounts of donations and volunteer support from around the country, which may have helped to make his campaign as effective as possible.
"I donated money to Warner's campaign ... I heard Obama had so much money he could not spend it," said Jim Dillard, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates. "I decided to keep it. But I did volunteered with Obama's campaign as much as possible." Virginia's concession of 13 electoral votes to Obama signifies an important ideological change.
In Virginia the excitement to vote was portrayed in early absentee voting and long lines at voting places. Jeannie Mathews of Vienna voted for Obama at Flint Hill Elementary School at 5:20 a.m. She was the 40th person in a line that wrapped around the school.
Virginia was predicted from the beginning of the campaigns to greatly impact the election.
"Virginia has not gone Democratic since 1964. If Obama wins Virginia it is like a slam dunk," Dillard said, just prior to Obama's win."It's really exciting and great that Virginia's plain has rolled. In my lifetime it has never been like this," said John Tompkins, a Fairfax resident.
Though recent polls leading up to the election predicted significant leads for Obama, the senator did not let that assurance slow him down. Both candidates continued to campaign hard until the very end.
"The last eight years have taught every Democrat that they have to work hard the entire time no matter how the projections look," said Jim Merkel, law school graduate from Washington state.
Obama's win has been triumphant for the Democratic Party, which has been extremely frustrated over the past eight years.
Jim Dillard, who served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates for 32 years, addressed the importance of the Republican Party's response to this election.
"Will the Republican Party continue to veer right, or will it become more moderate," Dillard asked. "They have lost most of their seats in Northern Virginia."Dillard once considered himself a moderate Republican and now votes independent, not down party lines.
This case is representative of the shift that the Virginia electorate has undergone.
"I think Obama is extremely bright. He will turn America around. Whatever he lacks in experience he makes up in intelligence," Dillard said.
Warner entered the stage alongside his wife, Lisa Collis, and three daughters to Jesus Jones' "Right Here, Right Now." In addition to thanking Kaine and Webb, Warner saluted the man he will replace, longtime Republican senator John Warner. The two Warners are unrelated.
"I will continue to seek out his advice and counsel," Warner said. "He has been a great U.S. senator."Warner said his experience as governor is even more valuable with the current state of the economy."You may remember I spent my first two years as governor digging Virginia out of a fiscal ditch left over by a Republican administration," Warner said.
"That might be the best experience possible for a U.S. senator to have come January 2009."
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