This story ran 11/3/2010 on Dane101.com

Tuesday was a tough night to be a Wisconsin progressive, no matter where you were. And judging from friends’ pictures of Senator Russ Feingold’s headquarters, it was especially sad in Middleton last night, even – especially – in the moment of the concession speech when Feingold says, “My heart is light and free.” That is the cracking voice of a contemporary folk hero, ladies and gentlemen.

Meanwhile, I was buried in Ron Johnson’s party in Oshkosh, among the aviation artifacts of the EAA AirVenture hangar. The cheering started up shortly after 8 p.m., whenever the Fox News feed showed Wisconsin numbers. Sure, the gap narrowed considerably until they called it for Johnson at around 9:30, but the mood stayed jubilant. Really, the mood started jubilant: the woman who greeted us as we entered said, “Welcome to the victory party.” The beer ran freely into custom-made paper cups with Ron Johnson’s face on them.

I was mid-interview when the Fox call aired, and once the (deafening) whoops died down a bit, the woman, a Winnebago county employee, let out a very satisfied, “We creamed him. We creamed him.”

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