Stunned silence at Obama’s election night party

NASHUA, N.H. – As the thousands of supporters of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) filed into the gymnasium at Nashua High School, most could be seen craning their necks to see the giant screen broadcasting Tuesday night’s election results.

The surprising results on the screen were met with silence that largely endured throughout the night.

{mosads}As the race stayed too close to call for hours, there were cheers when new precincts would report that Obama had narrowed the margin somewhat.

There were a few chants of Obama’s rallying call, “Fired up! Ready to go!,” but for the most part the crowd was quiet as it waited for a boost to put Obama ahead, as polls and pundits had predicted.

Then, shortly before 10:30 p.m., young supporters near the entrance of the gym made two efforts to get chants going of “Keep hope alive” and “We still believe.”

But moments later, a giant Wolf Blitzer sparked boos in the crowd when he reported that the Associated Press had called the race in favor of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).

The crowd cheered as Blitzer announced that CNN was not ready to call the race, and the hope in the room was palpable as the college towns of Hanover and Durham had still not reported.

It did not take long after that though until New Hampshire Reps. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter made their way to the stage and announced that Obama would be out shortly.

For the press corps, that was a clear indication that Obama was prepared to concede, for the crowd, it was at last a reason to cheer.

When Obama did make his way to the stage, and after he conceded, the crowd finally got its chance to go nuts when the senator vowed: “I am still fired up and ready to go.”