Tonight's outcome was determined hours earlier. Moments after the polls closed at 7 o'clock, Nixon was declared the winner. I received a call from the newsroom with the alert, and immediately went searching for an interview to provide some perspective. Luckily, former Governor Roger Wilson was standing nearby and Mike O'Connell talked with him about the challenges the new governor would face. Word of the victory trickled out slowly through the crowd as the party started to fill in.

To give you an idea of the scene, KMOV was given a 4 foot wide by 8 foot deep section on one of two risers set in the middle of the Pageant's main floor. We were one of nearly a dozen TV stations from across the state allocated the same space. With a reporter, photojournalist, camera and lights it was a very tight fit. Luckily a few stations with space reservations did not show up, so we could spread out a bit.

The night at Democratic Headquarters was not unlike a Cardinals game, with the home team jumping out to a big early lead but the crowd staying to see if the pitcher could throw a no-hitter. Televisions showed one of the cable news networks as returns started to roll in. Cheers greeted each call of a state for Barack Obama. It became somewhat Pavlovian, as any uproar made the dozens of media members snap their heads towards one of the monitors.

You could fee the anticipation once Ohio and Pennsylvania turned blue. During our live webcast through the evening, Mike and I were vigilant in refreshing the Secretary of State's website showing county by county returns. We printed out the 2004 returns, and compared those numbers to the new returns. Even without all the precincts reporting, it was obvious early on it would be a very close race as Obama's vote totals were already higher than John Kerry's.

A roar louder than any rock star ever received swept down on the Pageant stage when the Presidential race was called. Hugs were plentiful and tears flowed freely. The timing could not have worked out any better. Feeding off the huge energy of the crowd, Governor-Elect Nixon was introduced.