Election Elation

While at an election-watching party in D.C. last night, a few friends and I had an idea: Why not walk to the White House, just a few blocks away, and take some photos by its gates? We didn't think we were the only ones to think of this, but nothing could have prepared us for what we found at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.: a huge throng of people laughing and singing and chanting and dancing, cars honking as they drove past, total strangers high-fiving and hugging each other, utter jubilation in the air. We celebrated by the White House's front entrance until about 1:30 a.m., and there were still people marching toward Lafayette Square from all directions as we left at that late hour. Finally, after all the disappointments and frustrations and heartbreaks of the last eight years, a release. Finally, an Election Day that prompted excitement and optimism and real hope for the future. Finally, a victory for the better angels of our nature.

As the hour kept getting later and the crowds kept streaming toward the White House, I overheard a Secret Service officer say he had never seen anything like it. Neither had I.

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election