Election Night

Call it a columnist's conundrum.

Political pundits were predicting a quick and decisive outcome in Virginia's elections Tuesday, which meant there was no time to shuttle between party headquarters in Richmond on Election Night.

Hmmmm. Did we want to be with the happy people? Or the sad ones?

Actually that was an easy decision. You see, a very long time ago, this journalist was assigned to cover the Oliver North "victory" party after his bid for the U.S. Senate. Cranky didn't begin to describe the mood in that morose room. Funereal was more like it.

So, off to the Marriott we went.

The mood there was, well, crowded. And happy.  

Even for the press. And here's a Where's Waldo moment: Can you find Fox News' Carl Cameron?

 You have to give the crowd something while they wait for the other side to concede. In Richmond, it was party chair Michael Steele.

 And Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

Former Congresswoman Thelma Drake was watching the returns in a corridor outside of the main room. Yes, the TV did seem to be tuned to Fox News.

And, if you're wondering why this photo is cropped in such an abrupt way, it's because I believe strongly in women's rights. The right of a woman to never have her derriere photographed and published on a blog, that is.

While we're in the corridor, it's worth showing the lavish spread that was arrayed for the hungry Republicans. Yes that is a tower of potato chips, a sign that a new austerity may already be gripping Richmond.

Finally, with the returns in and the Democrats conceding, it was time for the big event. As luck would have it, the press was relegated to the very back of the steamy room. And this 6'6" (OK, maybe he was just 5'6") joker was standing right in front of me,

Not to worry. Moments later I was wracked by the tubercular coughing that's plagued me all week. Miraculously, the disgusted crowd parted for a moment, giving me a clear shot of Governor-elect Bob McDonnell surrounded by his family and suppprters.

And yes, a real photographer would have managed to get the money shot without a silhouette of a raised fist in the frame.

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