As I sit here at 7:08 a.m., Wednesday morning, the race is still up in the air. With 89% of the votes counted, Shumlin has a tiny lead over Racine, with Markowitz hovering just behind.  

Now, unlike many of the front-pagers and regular commenters on GMD, I didn’t have a strong opinion in the race. I thought the Dems had an incredibly strong, deep field, with at least four candidates who could perform credibly in the general election. (My only negative thought: I wished that at least one of them had had the guts to run in 2008.) I made up my mind, literally, standing in the voting booth, staring at my ballot.

And no matter who wins, I feel good about the race.  

The five Dems ran strong campaigns. Three raised significant amounts of money. They didn’t trash each other — not enough to weaken the eventual winner, certainly. Judging by the very high turnout, they managed to engage the electorate in a significant way. At least four of the five candidates have pledged their support to the winner. And I fully expect all five to show up at the unity meeting, even if the result is still unknown.

I feared that a wide-open primary shootout would leave the Dems depleted and possibly divided. But while the candidates raised and spent quite a bit of money, I don’t think the well is dry — by any means. IMO, things are looking remarkably bright on this most amazing post-primary morning.