Congratulations Creigh and Jody!

UPDATE: MORE WINNERS: The upset of the night was Kaye Kory, who beat long time incumbent Bob Hull by 50.65 to 49.34. Additonally, Mark Keam, whom I endorsed, won by 55 percent of the vote. Unfortunately, Miles Grant did not win his race, but congratulations to Patrick Hope.

I heard the election results on my way home from my Lions Club meeting. I know, I know, I'm a political junkie, so why aren't I hanging out somewhere tabulating returns or celebrating at an election night party? Well, because I am president of my Lions Club (for at least two more meetings), and charity work to find a cure for diseases like diabetes, which lead to blindness, and provide services for the sight impaired (like the famous leader dogs that you sometimes see assisting folks) just takes precedence even over politics.

But on the ride home, Dan and I had on WTOP and listened as the election results rolled in, so I knew before booting up my computer that Creigh Deeds and Jody Wagner had won convincing victories.

My sincerest congratulations to them both. No, they weren't my first choice, but they are decent people who ran campaigns that they should be proud of. All of our candidates did. Now that the voters have chosen, I certainly pledge my support, energy, and resources to helping them win. As a Democrat, I am proud of our ticket.

My condolences to all those who didn't win. The underside of politics is that lots of really good people put their hearts and souls into winning for their candidate. They sacrifice hours canvassing in the blazing sun or freezing rain, they talk to strangers, have phones hung up in their ears, and give countless hours to the cause. To come up some votes short after that is heartbreaking. And it is a heartbreaker for the candidates too. To all of them, you have my deepest sympathy because I am there with you tonight. Take a day or two to mourn the loss. To heal the wounds.

But then gird up for an even greater battle. November will come sooner than we think and we have great candidates to battle for.

I will write much more about this in a day or two. But for now I am tired. A bit disappointed, but also very pumped.

One special kudos has to go out to Terry McAuliffe. I received an email from him and as part of his concesssion, he turned around and asked for money for Creigh Deeds campaign, complete with a link to where you can donate. Creigh is going to need the funds. And McAuliffe is a class act for going out that way. Thanks Terry, you turned out to be a class act indeed!