At the eleventh hour of what was a historic primary, considering the record turnout at the polls, California was the ultimate prize to be had by Democrats. As the campaign party for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in San Francisco’s Fairmont hotel gradually came to an end on Tuesday night, the hard numbers favored New York Sen. Hilary Clinton as the winner of our Golden State. Yet, is that how true winners in politics are defined? After being declared the losers in the California race, the Obama camp in San Francisco was looking pretty energized, with little despair in sight.

Click the link on the right to view the multimedia...

“It’s not about how many states you get,” said Tony West, the co-chair of Obama’s State-wide Leadership Council. “It’s about winning how many delegates! We’ve got a lot of other states that we have to compete in now, because at the end of the day this is about winning delegates.”

With 99 percent of California votes in, Obama took about 42 percent of California delegates, according to the Associated Press. That's approximately 150 delegates for Obama and 191 for Clinton.

Addressing a rowdy crowd of Obama followers, West boldly claimed this night as “only the beginning of the end.” The group's challenge is yet to come in the next nine months.

Earlier that morning, Nancy Weber of Portland, Oregon arrived at the Obama headquarters in San Francisco. At 7 a.m., some 50 volunteers had already showed up before she did to help out in any way they could. Weber is a “trouble-shooter” for the campaign office, and has been in San Francisco for just over a week now to help the collective West Coast effort behind Sen. Obama. She considers it a head start on behalf of her home state.

“Our primary isn’t until May 20th,” Weber said. “And so we [Oregonians] really feel like the Californians are voting for us, because things may be—if not decided—at least well along their way.”

At 3 p.m. Tuesday, Marie Acosta rushed out the door for a quick trip to visit the Mission district team. They needed the flyers, just translated into Spanish, to be dropped off at a Mission Street BART corner plaza. The San Francisco resident and political activist for 30-plus years shared a familiar hope with her colleagues.

“The biggest expectation I have is that he’ll reinstate—rekindle—a sense that government is for the people, and all people,” said Acosta. "A diminishing of the cynicism that has been created over the last eight years.”

During Tuesday night's campaign party, there was plenty of young, midnight oil to burn, according to 24-year-old Jesse Schmitt, an Obama volunteer leader and Administrative Associate at Google—organizing the Mission district.

“Last night [Monday] I was up late passed one in the morning, printing-up labels and sticking them on to thousands of door hangers that we dropped off in the Bayview and Western Addition—because no one was focusing on them,” Schmitt said, wired on caffeine and bound for another bar after the event. “I’ve been leading a team of about 15-20 precinct captains, and about 60 volunteers, including a Latino group… We’re all part of the same crew here.”

Tony West recalled that it is, ultimately, hope that built this country.

“Hope got us through tragic wars throughout American history—and got us on the other side,” says West. “Hope inspires the best in us, and that is what Barack’s message does.”