67.0°

The big screen at Centennial Hall showed people in Harlem and Chicago and people all over the country in tears, and so too was Maureen Longworth. She wished her father had been there to see this election, she said.

But her mother, at 86, had sent her first-ever text message to her seven children earlier this Election Day.

"Quit the drama, your mama says 'Vote Obama,'" the message said.

The crowd of about 150 Juneau Democrats grew steadily rowdier after their man won the election, but they went nuts when Barack Obama finally appeared on the big screen at Centennial Hall.

"Change has come to America," President-elect Obama said.

Below him on the screen, the Electoral College count showed Obama beating John McCain 338 to 156.

They cried, they danced, they hugged each other. They laughed and clapped.

"I can hardly stay in my own skin right now," said Tonya Roust. "This'll be important for my grandkids someday."

"He is a healer," said Pat White, a psychotherapist. "We're talking about transformation! Caterpillar to butterfly."

The general consensus was that McCain had conceded with grace. Some even cheered during the gracious parts of his speech.

Though they booed when he called Gov. Sarah Palin "one of the best campaigners I have ever seen," and said "we can all look forward" to her political future.

Asked about their hopes for national politics, the Juneau Democrats tended to go long.

"I'm hoping the national Republican Party will be laid to rest for the next 20 years, with their crackpot ideas," Stuart Cohen said.

But their hopes seemed less grand for state and local races in this red state, especially as initial results showed Republicans in the lead for many races. The "Palin effect" was bandied about as a specter of doom. They cheered for each percentage-point increase, as Mark Begich and Ethan Berkowitz, both down, approached the incumbents Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young.

"Nationally, I'm just ecstatic," said longtime Democratic legislator Mike Miller. "I'm hoping my statement will be obsolete by the time the press comes out, but I'd hoped for more traction in Alaska."

"The people we thought would have tough races are having tough races," said Rep. Beth Kerttula, who was glued to a screen showing results.

"It's really depressing," said Marsha Bennett, who worked on Democrat Andrea Doll's race for the Mendenhall Valley state House seat. Doll lost her seat to Republican challenger Cathy Muñoz. "This is still a red state," Bennett said.

No one seemed surprised that Alaskans might well vote for a convicted felon.

Results hadn't come in by press time. Many had left once the Obama ecstasy settled down some. U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Mark Begich called in at Centennial Hall to spur on the Dems.

"It'll be a long, long night. We know that," Begich said.