• Marquette College Republicans and Students for McCain attended the Wisconsin GOP Election Night Party to view election results Tuesday night.
• The night started optimistically, but as the evening progressed, it became evident that Republican candidate Sen. John McCain would not win the election.
• Even though their candidate lost, Marquette's College Republicans gave their congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama.

Spirits were high and excitement filled the air as Marquette College Republicans joined the Wisconsin GOP Election Night Party while polls were closing across the state.

The party at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee officially kicked off at 8 p.m. Sarah Bartlett, the College Republicans' director of communications and a junior in the College of Communication, was the first Marquette student to arrive on the scene.

After a long day of voting and making volunteer phone calls at the McCain headquarters in Waukesha, Bartlett was optimistic as early returns were coming in.

"I'm excited, I'm nervous, but I'm also very confident," Bartlett said. "The popular vote is even at about 10 million votes each, but it's still too early to be delving too deeply into emotions."

At 9 p.m., the ballroom was filled with supporters of Sen. John McCain. However, the excitement in the room began to decline soon after.

At that time, the popular vote was still about even, but the all-important Electoral College count favored Sen. Barack Obama. He led 195-70, according to projections airing on television sets throughout the room. That lead included Wisconsin's 11 electoral votes.

Most of the other members of the College Republicans arrived at the viewing party closer to 10 p.m. after an evening of poll watching. Matt Dambach, the Students for McCain Marquette chapter chair, said he knew McCain's chances of winning the election looked bleak.

"About an hour ago I was optimistic, but it's not looking very good right now," said Dambach, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. "Right after we lost Ohio, I began to think it was pretty much over."

Just before 10 p.m., McCain trailed Obama in the projected electoral vote count 220-120.

Dambach said McCain would need to win every toss-up state left to pull off a victory.

"Basically, it will take a miracle," Dambach said.

Patrick Sholl, a junior in the College of Business Administration, was another College Republican running low on optimism shortly before 10 p.m.

"It's not over, but the map doesn't look particularly good right now," Sholl said. "I'm a little disappointed. We've put a lot of hard work towards this campaign."

At 10:05 p.m., the results became official. "Obama Elected President" flashed across the two projection screens in the ballroom, which seemed to evaporate any last rays of hope still lingering in the crowd.

Dambach didn't hesitate to congratulate President-elect Obama.

"I wish him the best of luck in the next four years. He ran a very good campaign," Dambach said.

"President-elect Obama spoke a lot about unity on the campaign trail. I hope he is able to follow through and unify the country, because our country is at its best when all Americans are working together – Republicans and Democrats alike," Dambach said.

Matt Rossetto, a College Republican and freshman in the College of Communication, said that he plans on giving Obama his full support and hopes Obama will follow through on his plans for taking the country in a new direction.

"I think it's pretty clear that the American people have given President-elect Obama a mandate and bought into his promise for change," Rossetto said.

Although the vast majority of people left the viewing party disappointed, Bartlett put things into perspective just before heading back to campus.

"We're Americans first and Republicans second. At the end of the day, that is what's important," Bartlett said. "We need to appreciate this historic moment in time."