Endgame: A Day at the Fort Bend Democrats Headquarters

And it finally came.

Election Day. November 4th 2008.

The day started slow enough, but over time more and more volunteers came in to help get out the vote. We had people driving the elderly and disabled to the polls. We had people calling voters who hadn’t voted in the early voting.

We had people analyzing data and looking for areas of opportunity.

We had lawyers standing by to help voters who were having trouble getting in to cast their ballot.

We had people making more campaign buttons to meet the high demand.

We had people showing voters who came in where they were supposed to vote.

We had people coming in all day to buy campaign memorabilia.

And then, all of a sudden it was 6:30 and the calling stopped.

And at 7:00 the polls closed.

And the election night victory party crowd started to stream in. People came in and out all night so an accurate head count is impossible, but the estimate is that more than a hundred and fifty celebrants crossed our front entrance last night.

Every once in awhile, especially at the top of the hour, the election watchers would burst into spontaneous applause as another state’s projected vote totals went into Barack Obama’s column. The crowd grew more agitated as the electoral vote surpassed 100, then hit 200, then pegged at 207 where it stayed.

Then at 10:01 CST the polls closed on the west coast and vote projections took Barack Obama’s lead to 284. At that point the crowd erupted in a deafening roar.

And the champagne came out.

And the exuberant youth among us went outside to wave Obama signs at passing motorists, screaming and yelling, and getting gleeful honks from many of these cars.

Lots of self-congratulation went on. Lots of feelings of gladness and relief.

And we had one more victory. Richard Morrison won his race to become County Commissioner. He won by 802 votes. It was announced, and Richard responded with a salute to the crowd.

Then the crowd thinned as we waited to hear Obama’s speech to a crowd at his Chicago victory party. Then Barack Obama gave his memorable speech to the throng in front of him, and to millions around the world.

This last one is of Richard Morrison taken during Obama’s speech. It looks like he is watching the television intently, but in actual fact I was standing between him and the TV. No, that is a shot of Richard’s 21 foot stare in a 20 foot room.

It is a very candid shot of a successful candidate in a close political race who is now in deep thought as he moves to the next step.

Making a difference in Fort Bend County