After a long, bitter presidential campaign, many Barack Obama supporters yesterday were still soaking in the fact that the election was finally over — and that their candidate had come out on top.

"I woke up this morning and I felt so happy," said Kelli Furushima, a longtime Obama supporter who knew the president-elect as "Barry" when the two attended Punahou School in the 1970s. "We're just feeling so incredibly proud of him. This is our Barry and look at what he's done."

On Tuesday, Hawai'i voters gave Obama, who was born and raised in the Islands, the largest margin of victory of any state in the nation. Obama garnered 72 percent of the vote, while Republican nominee John McCain got 27 percent.

Obama fans said yesterday they were still a little stunned their one-time underdog candidate has gotten all the way to the White House, becoming the first African-American and the first person born in Hawai'i to be elected president.

"I was crying" when the results came in, said supporter Kathleen Leisek.

She was also screaming so loud the neighbors asked whether she was OK.

Deborah Phillips, who was able to meet Obama at Magic Island in August during his week-long vacation in the Islands, said she was glued to her television set throughout Election Day — and night — to see how Obama was faring.

"I just wanted him to win," she said. "It was great to see the whole thing unfold."

Obama has had a strong following statewide since announcing his run for presidency in February 2007. Many Hawai'i residents not only stood behind his policies, but delighted in the idea of a president who can bodysurf, as he demonstrated during his trip to Hawai'i in August, and likes shave ice.

"There is a tremendous pride, but it goes beyond the standard hometown boy makes good," Democratic Party of Hawai'i Chairman Brian Schatz said yesterday. "It's really about Hawai'i and what Hawai'i stands for on an international stage."

IMMENSELY POPULAR

In addition to being a source of local pride, Obama has been a boon to the Hawai'i Democratic Party, whose membership has more than doubled in the past year. The fever pitch over Obama's nomination first reached immense proportions in February, when a record 37,000 Hawai'i voters turned out for the Democratic caucuses. In previous years, the caucuses had 5,000 people at most.

Obama was born in Honolulu and spent much of his childhood in Hawai'i.

He graduated from Punahou School in 1979.

His maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, raised Obama in the same apartment on Beretania Street where she died early Monday. His grandfather is buried in Hawai'i, and his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, lives here.

Obama visited the Islands in late October, making an unprecedented departure from the campaign trail so close to the election to see the then-ailing Dunham, whom he called "Toot" — short for tutu — during a 22-hour stay.

In August, Obama took a weeklong vacation to Hawai'i, making a public appearance at a rally at Ke'ehi Lagoon to thank his supporters in the Islands and to remind them he still remembers where he came from. He told supporters he was looking forward to bodysurfing and watching his girls play on the beach.

Furushima, part of a group of women who call themselves the "Obama Sweeties," said she feels just a tad bit sorry for Obama when she thinks about all the problems he will have to tackle as president. "It's just overwhelming," she said, adding that she is certain Obama will rise to the challenge.

Already, Furushima said, Obama has inspired so many.

"To think, he is someone who grew up just like the rest of us," she said.

The "Obama Sweeties" named themselves after a controversy early in the campaign in which Obama called a female reporter "sweetie." The group, made up of Obama's Punahou classmates, has been helping at Obama fundraising events.

CLEARING OUT

At Obama's Hawai'i headquarters at Ward Warehouse yesterday, volunteers were already packing up furniture, taking down posters and preparing to shut down the space. The closure was bittersweet for some, who had enjoyed being involved in such a historic campaign that got so many people involved.

Patricia Wistinghausen, 24, an Obama volunteer, said she would spend one to seven hours every day making phone calls to voters.

Now that the election is over, she said, she'll go back to life as usual. But she added that she is excited about the changes Obama has promised: "We're just looking forward to a better tomorrow."