A historic night: pictures and words from the Obama-bration in downtown St. Paul

Jubilant Democrats celebrated Barack Obama’s historic victory at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown St. Paul last night. While the presidential victor’s coattails proved largely non-existent in Minnesota — with a pair of tightly contested House races falling to the GOP and the U.S. Senate race knotted in a virtual dead heat — few seemed concerned by the split verdict. The election of the first African American president in the country’s history was sufficient cause for jubilation.