About every 10 minutes, loud cheers combined with boos and jeers made the guests sitting downstairs at the Awful Arthur’s restaurant in Blacksburg look up at the ceiling.

They had all been warned, but many of the patrons must have just been trying to enjoy their crab legs and lobster in peace.

The cheers came from the huddles of Democrats who call Montgomery County their home, and had gathered in front of the big-screen televisions upstairs at Awful Arthur’s even before the polls had closed in Virginia. Sure it was early, but in this year’s historic election it seemed like the right time.

“It’s a lot more fun to watch the returns with people who share your commitment,” said Beth Obenshain, a former newspaper editor and a Montgomery Democrat. “There are a lot of local Democratic leaders here.”

As Obenshain spoke, the television anchor announced that Pennsylvania and Ohio had been projected to be blue states won by Obama. Over a hundred Democrats gathered for food and fellowship, but as each state’s projected winner was announced, the reaction of the crowd did all the talking. For those two states, a toast was ordered.

There were numerous students with laptops, refreshing their pages every minute in order to provide up to date poll numbers for Virginia and shouting the results, “Montgomery County is up three points with 96 percent of the votes in.” The crowd high-fived and toasted one another as the electoral map began to lean toward an Obama win.

Clearly, the large turnout of people in the elections was reflected in the large turnout at the return party. Democrats in attendance seemed very confident that Mark Warner would win the Virginia Senate race, and also that Senator Barack Obama would be the next president.

Montgomery Democratic leader Brandon Bull was glued to his laptop.

“I’m very confident that Obama will win Virginia, but I’m also interested to see how he did locally,” Bull said. “I think we are going to have a strong victory.”

Dave Vanscotter, another volunteer for the Democratic Party, is 59 years old and this is the first time he’s volunteered his time for a presidential candidate. It wasn’t easy at first. “The first day I sat there looking at the phone for an hour trying to get up enough nerve to call somebody,” Vanscotter said.

Steve Cochran, the Chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee, said, “Barack Obama is the most inspirational candidate that I have seen in my adult life; I’ve been involved in politics for 35 years and I’ve never seen anyone so inspirational with such a wonderful message that has so much potential to do great things for this country.”

Adults cheered and celebrated alongside several Virginia Tech students, also members of the Montgomery Democrats. Danielle Oliver is a waitress at Awful Arthur’s, and helped to organize the event.

“I’m a moderate, but I voted Democrat today,” Oliver said. “This was the first time I’ve really been excited about politics. Barack Obama got me excited, got me engaged in the election.”

Those in attendance ate and cheered, but also discussed some of the positive changes that they believe will come about if their presidential candidate does win. While economic policy and the war in Iraq were stereotypical themes, Obenshain described the impact Barack Obama would have on women in the country.

“He gives the overall message that the government is a positive factor in our lives,” Obenshain said. “Health care is a huge issue especially for women. There are single mothers out there who struggle. Obama will do better than Bush.”

The theme of change and the idea that Obama will do better, if elected, than his predecessor George Bush echoed throughout the domain. Furthermore, Democrats hoped that this change would last longer than the term of one president.

“It’s been too long under the Republicans,” said Montgomery Democrat Bob Perkins. “But Democrats need someone qualified to carry the banner in the White House for years to come. It seems easier for Republicans to keep the White House. I hope that Mark Warner and Tim Kaine could be these people.”

Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner is more than a shoe-in to defeat former Governor Jim Gilmore. Every Democratic victory is viewed by the Montgomery Democrats as a step in the right direction of change.

“I believe the results will have a long lasting outcome,” Perkins said. “To me the one thing that explains it all is the commercial where the guy is driving and he keeps looking in his rear-view and sees George Bush. But the third time he looks, he sees John McCain. That sums it up.”

The crowd of more than 100 roared when Senator-elect Mark Warner spoke of his victory in Virginia. An even bigger win for the Democratic Party was Tom Perriello for a spot in Congress. Bull, a Virginia Tech graduate, said, “A Perriello win would be a tremendous upset. It’s not anything that anybody expected; it would be like a Radford basketball win over Duke.”

While the night’s party was going favorably, many of the attendees pointed out that with the Virginia governor elections being held in 365 days, the work begins again tomorrow.

“I’m now looking forward to in 2009 electing a Democrat as governor again,” Bull said. “We will celebrate tonight, and begin working tomorrow for 2009, work to identify Democratic voters, persuade Independents, and get out the vote again.”

The work of the Montgomery County Democrats may never end. Elections come once a year, but for many in attendance it is the sincere belief that this year is special that will keep them awake until the winner is announced.

“We are really excited for Barack Obama,” Obenshain said. “It’s been a long time since we had a night like this to celebrate.”

Annette Perkins, a former Chair on the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors said, “There are certain elections that are what we call defining elections and this is one of them.”
Travis Ponton and Stephanie Spurlock are media studies students at Radford University.