The Oregon Convention Center: Democrats at Ground Zero

The lad in the photo is Roshellio Sanders, age 6, of Northeast Portland. He's pretty excited. But there were plenty more pumped-up folks among the 9,000-plus crowd at the Oregon Convention Center, where the Democratic Party of Oregon held what turned out to be a massive victory party.

After eight years, we'd mostly forgotten what it was like to see Democrats unbent by angst.

There was U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, downright giddy as he declared it "was Oregon that put Barack Obama over the top."

Yes, people danced during McCain's concession speech. Yes, people cried during Obama's acceptance. Yes, someone spilled their microbrew on my corduroys.

State Rep. Tina Kotek summed it up best.

"I'm speechless," she said. "I'm just so excited about the future of our country. I know that sounds corny, but I'm just so excited."