The grind is over.

Now the party’s on.

With hardly enough time to say "what a night," the Democrats did what all winning politicos do: They kicked off a rug-stomping party in the Denver Sheraton’s massive ballroom, flush with stunning success.

"Holy Smoke,’’ yelled Mayor John Hickenlooper.

“Tonight Colorado has gone from red to purple to blue, and it's thanks to you,’’ U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette told a cheering crowd.

After President-elect Barack Obama made his acceptance speech, party leaders snaked around the Sheraton ballroom in a conga line, dancing to Kool and the Gang's "Celebration.’’

And the Republicans?

Give 'em credit. They put up a stoic front even as the early returns indicated that a long night loomed.

"Whether or not we come out on the right side of each and every race ... we know we're on the right side of history," Dan Caplis, host of the Caplis and Silverman Show on 630 KHOW, said to cheers from the crowded ballroom at the Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows.

But when Obama went over the top, the cash bar shut down and party loyalists headed for the exits. In a corner sat a stack of hundreds of Schaffer for U.S. Senate signs, posted on sticks. Would-be revelers never had a chance to wave them.

Only four years ago, more than 3,000 Republicans at any given time were cheering for President George Bush during a victory party at the Marriott Denver Tech Center.

"I know one thing. If everybody here voted - we won,’’ a Republican entering the party was overheard saying.

And Democrats were licking their wounds over John Kerry’s defeat, bracing themselves for the long grind back to power. Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer took the long view, too, during a concession speech tonight at the Denver Marriott South.

"Good campaigns don't end on election day, win or lose, if the ideas matter," he said. "For all of us who are activists in the room, there are 730 days until the next election.’’

Party central for the nation’s Democrats was Grant Park in downtown Chicago, where tens of thousands of Obama supporters streamed into Grant Park long before the announcement of his victory. After his speech they poured onto onto Michigan Avenue and surrounding streets that were closed to traffic, waving American flags and chanting "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!"

Even Karl Rove, the Fox News analyst and former aide to President Bush, acknowledged that with Obama's election, "Every American ought to celebrate tonight.

McCain, staying in the Goldwater Suite tonight at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, tried to cheer up his troops during his commencement speech.

"How could anyone have beaten him?" one man said of Sen. Barack Obama as he filed quietly off the lawn minutes after McCain’s speech.

The local parties ended a long day that started in dusk, as Colorado voters headed to polling places, worried about glitches that have plagued recent elections. But this time the election proceeded smoothly throughout the day, thanks in large part to early voting.

At least 63 percent of Denver’s active voters cast their ballots before the polls opened today, which greatly eased the last-minute evening rush, say election officials. According to Denver Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O’Malley, nearly two-thirds of Denver’s 312,445 active voters cast their ballots by mail-in or at early voting centers.

Staff writers Penny Parker and Joyzelle Davis and the Washington Times contributed to this report.