Scenes From the Driskill

What do politicos do while waiting for election results to come in? Random conversations from room parties at the Driskill ... Mike Martinez is spending the evening on the phone in his suite, trying to avert a Capital Metro strike, but as of 9:30 it looked a strike was probably a given ... Rich Bailey, the mayor's chief of staff, told juicy tales of a crazy week for communication, or lack thereof, between city staff and council members.

In the suite of Mark Nathan, political consultant to the council member stars, a jubilant crowd was chatting away. What of Proposition 2? Mark had thought it would pass, but Margo Weisz of People Fund said no - it was too complex to really understand, so most people would go with the endorsements. (Which said vote NO, including the Chronicle's.) A handsome city hall insider sporting a goatee, asked about the chances of Prop. 2 passing at 9:00, said "furgettaboutit." He claimed to have crystal balls. When Mayor Will Wynn showed up, he said that with 23% of today's vote in, Prop. 2 was holding at 52% against, 48% for -- the same as early voting. Matt Glazier of the Travis County Dems was predicting a total DEM sweep in Travis County - and looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, after 22 months of campaigning. At 9:30, the mood was jubilant as positive results for Obama keep rolling in.