Tears of joy streamed down Democrats’ faces in the sardine-packed room on Tuesday night. There were smiles, hugs, high-fives and many, many tears. Democrats from all over Kitsap County gathered to watch history unfold. And it was historic history, at that.

Results of the general election poured in via a ginormous TV screen mounted on a wall at the Silverdale Beach Hotel amidst the cheering crowd. As Barack Obama inched closer toward the 270 electoral college votes required to wrap up the nomination, the scene began to look more like New Year’s Eve than a general election.

Retired school teacher Eileen Angiletta of Poulsbo was there. She can attest to the celebrant mood of the room. The outcome of the election actually rendered the 25-year educator speechless. Well, almost speechless.

“I can now say we have a wonderful, bright president,” she said of Obama.

Taking a cue from that Joe the Plumber guy, Jo Chapman, a 15-year-old student from Silverdale’s Klahowya Secondary School, slapped “Jo the Student” on his nametag.

The Obama victory, he said, will give hope for the future.

“I’m proud of our country tonight and how we elected a new leader,” Chapman said. He foresees Obama working with the U.S Congress to create new jobs and fix current programs to make them operate cheaper.

Off in the corner of the room, the guest of honor‚ well, a likeness, anyway, was given rock star treatment. In the absence of the actual Obama being able to party with the D’s in Silverdale, a life-sized cutout sufficed nicely.

The Democratic faithful waited patiently in line (and nibbled on the nearby buffet while they waited) to get a picture taken with the-next-best-thing to the actual president-elect.

Democrats from 18 months old to well, much older, basked in the victorious glory of seeing their party’s chosen one be propelled into office with an overwhelming 338 electoral votes.

And, in the heat of the moment, the president-elect, the aforementioned cutout, anyway, disappeared.

Just like that. He disappeared.

The thing of it is, the owner of the cutout is an active duty Navy guy who had to be persuaded to give up the cutout in the first place. Call it foresight, call it whatever.

But honestly, why would anyone take a life-sized cutout of Barack Obama from a Democratic party?

Just curious.