Oh what a night. Before deadline, I hung with the red team at the Republican Victory Party Headquarters in Greenwood Village, then drove back downtown to the Sheraton to check on the blue team's election night festivities. Here are some snippets from the evening that, either way, would be historic.

MINI HER: Colorado Republican Party volunteer Nancy McKiernan showed her support for her party's vice presidential candidate with the most sincere form of flattery - imitation.

The petite McKiernan, who proudly points out that she's two weeks younger than the vice presidential hopeful, dressed up in a black suit, burgundy sweater, black pumps, glasses and an updo to show her spirit.

"I got up this morning, and I was really bummed that I didn't get to see her last night," McKiernan said about Palin's Colorado Springs appearance Monday. "This was just an extra way to show my support for her."

McKiernan, who usually wears contacts and her hair down, wore her button with Palin's picture and the words "History in the making" to Great Clips. "I told the hairdresser to make me look like her," McKiernan said. "I just love her." Did she look like her idol? You betcha.

Steve Farber, power broker, attorney and an instrumental figure in getting the Democratic National Convention here, huddled with other hopefuls inside the Sheraton ballroom. "I'm feeling great," he said, watching the returns on giant screens broadcasting CNN. "I think things are looking good right now. I never project the winner this early, but it's looking good."

Farber said he voted early because he was called for jury duty Monday and didn't want to chance getting selected on the jury, which could have forced him to miss voting in person Tuesday.

"I always vote on Election Day," he said. "It goes back to when my mother used to take me with her to the polling place on Election Day."

The Democratic mover and shaker called Denver's hosting the Democratic National Convention "the threshold for this election. The energy that came out of that Senator Obama has carried through his campaign."

TABLES TURNED: Randy Hildreth, communications director for the Colorado Republican Party, surveyed the crowd of young guns dialing their hearts out at the Key Bank building in Greenwood Village to encourage Coloradans to get out and vote - and it wouldn't hurt, of course, if the would-be voters stuck to the GOP ticket, volunteers repeated over and over.

"For the last four days this place has been really hopping," Hildreth said. "We've rented every table we could find. People have come here from Texas and California. They put their lives on hold and parachuted into a state they may have never been in before.

Political "celebrity" state Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, stopped in to cheer on the volunteers. "It's good to see this many people putting in sweat and time," he said. "That's how elections are won - with blisters on the fingertips."

BOOSTER BANTER: Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau spokesmodel Rich Grant called the election night fever "the greatest moment in history.

We're at ground zero. This cements that we will forever be linked with history. It all started here. Everybody for the next 100 years won't even know that the Broncos played at Invesco Field. They'll know it was where Obama accepted the (Democratic presidential) nomination and changed history."

EAVESDROPPING at either party's party: "Our candidate (pick your choice, McCain or Obama) is going to win."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the "Caplis and Silverman" radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.