Words really cannot begin to explain what happened last night, but I'll try. I'll admit, I'm not one for politics, pundits and political parties, but this was quite possibly the greatest, most important election in our history and there was no way in hell I was going to miss it. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to the Democratic headquarters in Burlington for their election night party. The night was abuzz with excitement and anticipation as state by state results flashed onto the jumbo screen in the Hilton Ballroom downtown.
I was feverishly shooting and running back to the Free Press table to edit and upload photos to the web as we focused our efforts on live blogging, live chat, live feed video and live photo galleries. Reporter Adam Silverman kept the public abreast of the goings-ons of the Dems party even filling them in on the flavor of the evening by capturing snippets of the DJ music choices. Reporter Mark Gould manned the live video feed and even transformed his coverage into a sort of TV news feed - snagging people from the election party floor for impromptu interviews. Technical difficulties aside, the night flew by perfectly. I've included some photos from the election party below. We all know how emotionally charged this election was. When the final countdown began for the west coast poll closings and the results finally arrived the room was screaming, jumping, hugging and crying. I shot in all directions, dodging elbows and a massive swell that was forming in front of the jumbo screeen. I had goosebumps and was shaking and the room was 80 degrees. Congrats Obama. Well played.
And then it was a race to get up to UVM campus as the newsroom heard screams and chants running down Main Street and knew something big was about to happen. Mark and I loaded up our gear and hit the road to find 3,000 students (in UVM fashion) drumming, dancing and singing with great excitement. They were fine on their own, but once we rolled in with our cameras and lights the energy level exploded. At one point I think I lost contact with the ground as we worked our way into the center of the crowd and, well, just went with it. Holding my cameras high above me I kept shooting "hail-marys" hoping I was capturing the action. I forgot to include those photos so I'll run some later on. It was great being in a place where celebrations are happy. Last night's community celebration reminded me of the 2004 World Series play-offs in Boston, but that night ended much differently. Crowds swelled and began torching cars, tearing down street signs, fighting, smashing windows and a full riot squad had to intervene leaving many injured and one dead. Not here in Vermont, we've got great people here.
Check out my boss, Ryan Mercer's audio slideshow of UVM students taking to the streets. I was still at election HQ so luckily he was able to shoot this awesome material. Raw excitement.
VT Secretary of State Deb Markowitz cheers!
Gubernatorial candidate Gaye Symington delivers her concession speech as Gov. Jim Douglas is re-elected.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a fellow shutterbug, collects some photos of party-goers at the Hilton.
Rep. Peter Welch delivers a speech to the excited crowd gathered at the Democratic Election party.
VT Attorney General Bill Sorrell gives a thumbs up to Obama as news of Pennsylvania's results arrive.
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
(Gannett News Service, Rob Curtis/Army Times)
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