WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Bush’s most devoted supporters were exuberant but cautious early this morning, relishing their candidate’s apparent victory but aware that legal challenges may be looming on the horizon.

Over 4,000 guests gathered early yesterday evening in the Atrium Hall of the Ronald Reagan Building here, enthusiastic for an extended Election Night fete for President Bush but aware they might be in for a long night.

The formally dressed audience entered the Republican National Committee (RNC) event early yesterday evening amid word of exit polls giving Kerry an edge, but the energy of the room grew throughout the night as news networks began calling major swing states, in particular Florida, for Bush. By 11 p.m., the audience could smell a victory and by 1 a.m., they were all but feasting on it.

An announcer teased the audience around 2 a.m., promising “one last guest speaker.”

At 5:10 a.m., it was announced that the President would not address the nation until later. John Edwards told Kerry supporters gathered in Boston that the Democrats would continue to wait for further returns before conceding defeat.

Still, the mood here at the Ronald Reagan Building was very optimistic.

“I’m feeling energetic, really happy, encouraged,” said 20-year-old Jonathan Boos of Dallas, a junior at the University of Texas. “It’s been an amazing night for Republicans and the President. I think it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion. I’m so happy right now I can hardly explain.”

“I was nervous, but that was because it was a close race and such a brutal campaign,” said Kentucky Bush supporter Karen Caron. “[Now] I feel really good, very optimistic.”

But some remained cautious, especially as the news networks refrained from calling the election in Bush’s favor.

“Standing here, it’s hard to let yourself get excited after last election,” said Kate Diercker, a freshman at George Washington University.

The assembled guests—including dozens of college-age volunteers and staffers—spent the long night milling inside the Atrium, sipping champagne and mint juleps, and bobbing their heads to the succession of country bands brought in to keep the audience entertained. Voting returns were projected onto large-screen TVs sitting atop a star-spangled set.

“They’re charging for drinks!” exclaimed Ellie Marble, a GW sophomore attending the event with friends from her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. “I think that’s kind of lame because we’re poor college students.”

Her companion, sophomore Kristen Hall, agreed. “They’re charging $4 for water,” she complained.

But the bar wasn’t a total wash.

“They weren’t IDing people who looked younger than me, and I’m definitely not 21,” sophomore Caitlyn McNally laughed.