November 5, 2008 1:54 PM

The day after.

At CREDO headquarters in San Francisco, most staffers are exhausted -- physically and emotionally -- from election day.

There were some magnificent victories. By and large, our election system worked. Record numbers of citizens cast ballots and the country didn't have to face another stolen election.

The nightmare of the Bush administration is truly over and we can move forward and work with a new president to bring about progressive change.

We fought hard to stop Colorado, South Dakota and California from banning choice and were successful.

However, in our home state, we lost a ballot proposition that has very real consequences for many in the CREDO community. Proposition 8, which would take away the right for same sex couples to marry in California, won the votes of a majority of California voters.

We, of course, have many staff members and customers who have married their same-sex partners in California. How does it feel when over 5 million of our fellow Californians vote against their unions? Not very good, we can tell you that.

So today we celebrate our victories and mourn our losses. But on the whole we are feeling optimistic about the direction our country will take if progressives stay organized, engaged and keep fighting for our values.