Tonight was unreal.

Tomorrow, I will write a running diary of the caucus day, as I did of the day before the caucus. The day was insane and action-packed, of course. But the day also contained Barack Obama’s victory, which, after being on the ground here, I believe to be one of the defining moments of our time.

Pat and I spent much of the trip learning as much as we could as non-partisan press observers, so to speak. But after hearing all the candidates, we decided to throw our badges down and work for Obama. And we’re glad we did. The Obama office was frenetic, disorganized, and packed with energy–containing representatives from age 8 to 88 (and you can’t say the same about the other offices). We drove voters to the polls (and then the same voter to the victory party in downtown Des Moines–she wanted to go, and we had a blast!) We herded individuals at the caucus. And we were there for Senator Obama’s victory on the front lines and his speech hours later.

As Obama said (paraphrase), “the moment is now. We work hard and long hours to create change, and though we don’t get paid much or get much credit, a long time from now, we will look back and remember nights like tonight as the times when it was worth it.” I look at Obama’s speech tonight–Presidential, commanding, fair, and honest–and see ways to get a new generation involved like never before.

I’ll write more tomorrow about what this means, but I do want to say that the Obama win, and his win in a big way, means several things (note: I will expand on all of these):

1. Turnout. The most important story of the night. We saw an unusual number of young and first-time voters out, specifically for Obama. They always predict high turnout, but it never happens (candidates such as Howard Dean were sunk by lower-than-expected turnout). But for Obama, they actually came.

2. The caucus process is MUCH crazier than I originally thought it was. Definitely more to elaborate here.

3. Hillary’s third-place finish. She really might have a difficult time winning a single primary after this.

4. Des Moines is a much better city than I gave it credit for being.

5. In case you are keeping score at home, the rossbaird.wordpress.com predictions were exactly correct!

Got back late–will write a full running diary of the caucus in this space tomorrow (or later today!)

6. Obama’s stage managers did a fantastic job. He gave his speech not surrounded by supporters, but on his own behind the podium. He talked not about Iowa, but about the future. It seemed like an audition for a convention or inauguration speech. It definitely was in the category of 2004 Convention or 2006 Jefferson-Jackson speeches. He brought the house down in a way that showed him capable of leading many!

7. Biden and Dodd have dropped out of the race. I like both tremendously, and hope that the upcoming President picks them for Cabinet spots.

Will write a final recap and hopefully post it tomorrow. All the best!

ERB and PMC