The whole event was a lot of fun, and not just because we won (though had we lost it would have been harder). Meeting all of the great local bloggers and activists in CT was a treat and catching up again with the various lefty media types and blogofascists I've met at various other events was great.
Election day was rather odd. You're there for what for the moment seems like the most important thing ever, yet depending on where you were there was almost no evidence that an election was going on. I began the day in New Haven, taking a trip to the headquarters there to find Chris Bowers hard at work:
After that we headed up to Meriden where the main headquarters was. Was surprisingly quiet there, which worried a lot of people, though it turns out that understandably most of the action was at the various field offices. Mrs. A and I went to work for a bit, heading out to a local polling station for awhile. Here she is:
I then headed up to Hartford with Tom Schaller and Ari Berman to try to find Jesse Jackson. We went to one polling location only to discover that he had just left. We also discovered how much walking around money Lieberman had thrown around there as he had tons of paid operatives working the polls. Not too many people were actually voting (for either candidate) however. Fortunately we met up with Connecticut State Rep. Doug McCrory, a really great guy who was supporting Lamont. He got on the phone to find Jackson and drove us to where he was headed.
Lamont was on his way as well for a joint appearance. It was in a West Hartford neighborhod where, for the first time since I'd been there, saw an immense amount of Lamont paraphernalia. Here's a shot I snapped of McCrory, Lamont, and Jackson:
We then headed back to Meriden for the (hoped for) victory party, stopping in briefly at Lieberman headquarters to see how things were going. I had to borrow a shirt to cover up the Lamont shirt I was wearing as we entered enemy territory. Team Lieberman was in full panic mode, asking us if we had cell phones to use to make phone banking calls for them as we walked in. It was an hour before the polls would close. The Lieberkids were in full battle mode.
As for the rest of the evening. Well, we won, though it was a nailbiter. Lamont started off 20 points ahead and the race slowly narrowed throughout the night. I wasn't ready to declare victory until Lieberman finally gave his nonconcession speech. Here we are fairly early in the evening:
After that the drinks were on Ned and, well, what happened in Meriden stays in Meriden. I did manage to give a quote or two to Ari Melber, gesturing wildly with the hand which was holding the wine glass. I advise against that.
Winning is fun. Let's do it more often.