Kowabunga

Yes, I was at the Minnesota GOP party last night, watching the results with over a thousand other Bush supporters. It was a blast. Many of the volunteers and RNC folks I had the opportunity to become acquainted with were there.

To give you the scale of the thing, check these out:

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It was huge, and that was only the main ballroom. There were numerous campaign parties, and other organizations holding parties. I did not hit all of them, but the ones I did hit were all good.

Everytime Bush picked up a new state, the crowd broke into the chant, "Four More Years!" When it came down to the wire, a new cheer came out, "One More State!" As the night wore on, I began a modified version of the first as follows: "Four More Beers!" The sentiment, though well received by those around me, did not propogate very far.

When it became clear that John Thune succeeded in unseating Tom Daschle from the U.S. Senate in South Dakota, the crowd erupted in song, "Na-na-na-na, hey hey, goodbye!" A sentiment that I think many Americans across the country shared.

As for the volunteers, here's some shots of some of those I met.

That's me with Allison and some guy named Mark. Allison was one of the staffers running the prep work for the big door-to-door campaign I worked on.

Katie from Canada. She understands that what happens here impacts those North of the border. She is a hard-core campaigner.

Ramstad during his speech to the gathered throng.

Christina (she's a lobbyist), Karen, and Ken.

Me with Karen, Scott of Pink Monkey Bird, and Ken.

Mike (left) and Larry (right), two of the "pros from Dover." They came out from DC as part of the RNC team. Larry grew up in Fresno, CA, just like me, although he went to a different high school. Mike is from Oklahoma. They helped co-ordinate the volunteers working out of the Northfield office.

There were quite a few others that I met during this past few weeks, from Vietnam veterans, to high schoolers and college students, and many others.

It was a blast. Hopefully I'll see some of these same faces in 2006 when we work to unseat Mark Dayton from the U.S. Senate.