In case anyone hadn’t heard which presidential candidate is capturing the youth vote, the Barack Obama campaign made it crystal clear tonight. Their official Los Angeles Super Tuesday election night party was a) held at Avalon, a club in Hollywood, and b) it felt like a Bar Mitzvah.

In between cheering “Si! Se puede!” and watching MSNBC results, fans hopped from booth to booth to “get their favors made.” In one area you could get a (free) t-shirt, either with a picture of Obama and the slogan “progress” or of Obama and the state of California. In another area you could have your photo taken in front of a mock press conference with a banner reading “Change.”

Obama would have been proud of the crowd— it was as diverse as he proclaims his supporters to be. There were old white men (including mayor of Long Beach Bob Foster), Latinos (including labor czar Maria Elena Durazo), African-Americans, Asians, rich and poor. And young people. Oh, the young. They were everywhere— taking photos, drinking too much and dancing solo during speeches, smoking stogies outside. There was even a baby sleeping in a snuggy on his dad’s chest.

The whole “Obama lost California” thing wasn’t really mentioned. It was more backdrop, occasionally flashing on the screens of CNN and MSNBC, but not exactly acknowledged. Instead politicians spoke about Obama winning 11, 12, then 13 states, and the crowd cheered for victory in North Dakota, Alaska and especially Missouri. Oh Missouri.

Image: Aung Moe Win