I'm back! Yay!
I'll be catching up/posting this afternoon.
Did you have so much fun reporting on the election? In 2008 I was reporting from the McCain watch party and really enjoyed it. The food was great, the atmosphere was crazy--and then intensely sober after he lost--and I think the highlight was seeing some of the foreign journalists play loud music and dance ontop of tables after it was announced that Obama won.
I think by that point there's almost a sense of relief that it's drawing to a close and everything is in wrap up mode. I mean, there's a TON of energy throughout the night (and after 21 straight hours of coverage and reporting you feed off that), but at the same time you're just fighting the exhaustion that is setting in from the months upon months of reporting.
What particularly grates me (and I understand all the various reasons WHY), is that from our standpoint we know where the election is headed well before we can release official results. Even once polls close, we have a solid idea of how the swing states are going to fall. But from a producer's standpoint, we're not allowed to say, and so must continue to report "All the states that we said to watch over the past weeks now have their polls closed. As you might expect however, it's to close for us to call quite yet." What that really translates into is: "We know, but we won't tell you".
Anyway, it's always fun in retrospect, which is why I do this. But it's 48 hours of non-stop craziness that really drains you.