My feelings are best expressed as the opposite of those of the little Santorum girl in this photo:

[Thanks to Ryan Smith for sending me the photo.]

Wow. I mean, WOW. I apologize for being absent, but I assure you that it was for a good cause. For the last two weeks, I've been working with Senator Menendez's campaign for reelection here in NJ. It's been a truly thrilling trip and I'm so thankful that I decided to get involved.

I spent most of the time working at the Essex County Democratic Headquarters. There I assisted the staff in working to get out the vote in my predominantly Dem county. I attended a Menendez rally in Newark where I got to see (and shake hands with!) President Clinton. On Election Day, I worked with the Democratic legal team on their anti-voter suppression efforts. I must admit that it was really effing cool to be at the Essex County Board of Elections on Tuesday. I observed the goings-on of that office as they handled voting machine and other issues. I was extremely impressed with the people working there. It was also pretty neat to play around with a sample voting machine that the Clerk of the Board had in her office.

Still, the best feeling was seeing that all the efforts of people like me around the country actually made a difference. I went into Election Day refusing to believe that the Dems might actually pull it off. I was tired of being disappointed. Two days later, it looks like I had nothing to worry about. Menendez kicked Kean's ass. The Dems took the House. By a lot. They took the Senate after Mister Macaca conceded earlier today (which I totally called). Rumsfeld resigned. Bolton won't last much longer at the UN. Bush is freaking out. Honestly, even the minor disappointments like Marilyn Musgrave retaining her seat are tempered by the fact that now that all Congressional Republicans are in the minority and need to deal with that. It's not fun to lose control of your committees, to have your bills never reach the floor, and to have to call a chick from one of the gayest congressional districts in the country your boss. Maybe the Republicans that didn't get reelected were better off. I return to a new DC tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe the social scene will get a whole lot better after the mass exodus of the neo-cons.

Let freedom ring.