Minutes after John McCain gave his concession speech, Dave Roederer, Iowa chairman of the McCain campaign, spoke to the crowd of GOP supporters gathered at the Marriott in downtown Des Moines.

"The outcomes aren't always as our desires, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the time and effort and the devotion that people put into this effort wasn't worth the time and the energy," Roederer said. "Sometimes it just doesn't come out the way we wanted. I personally thank, on behalf of all the Iowa campaign, Senator McCain and Governor Palin for keeping the faith alive and continuing to battle to the very end."

Roederer continued: "You may not realize this folks, but we set a record in this campaign. Throughout the state of Iowa we contacted more voters in this election than has ever been done in the history of this state. There was a record done four years ago and we broke that record by several thousand contacts. This was done by you folks, and I see many of you here who come in day in and day out. You did anything that was asked of you. Again, while results aren't as we would have like and certainly not what we were hoping for, I do want to thank you very very much for everything you have done."

Meanwhile, Republicans were still hopeful that they'd regain control of the Iowa House. Early in the evening, they had captured four open seats in the Des Moines metro area.

"Our goal is 51," said House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City. "I think we can get to 51. Looks like we're running strong tonight. We're heading to an age when Election Day isn't 24 hours. It's 24 days, and candidates are going to have to adjust to that."

Rants was trying to make the point that absentee ballots, as much as Election Day turnout, are becoming a very big part of Iowa elections.

Labels: 2008_election