At Civil Beat, as we wrapped up our election stories, we talked about the meaning of the night, observations that might get lost in the daily coverage.

We hope you’ll add your own in the comments section at the end of this article.

• Perhaps the most important result of the election was that Democrats held onto the U.S. Senate, which means that Sen. Daniel K. Inouye will remain chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and be able to continue to wield power to bring federal dollars to Hawaii.

• As has often been the case, Hawaii’s political tide was the opposite of mainland trends. The state’s congressional delegation is back to being controlled by Democrats, while a Democrat succeeded a Republican governor.

• Attack ads funded by mainland groups like the Republican Governors Association and Karl Rove’s political action committee backfired locally, hurting Duke Aiona and Charles Djou. Going negative just doesn’t seem to work here.

• Despite great efforts by religious conservative groups to defeat candidates who support Hawaii civil unions, most incumbents who voted in favor of House Bill 444 were easily re-elected. The civil unions battle is certain to continue.

• Despite their thumping, Aiona and local GOP Chairman Jonah Kaauwai interpreted the election as a win: Aiona described the night as a “great victory” while Kaauwai said, “This is a war. This is just the first battle. We should not be ashamed of the effort we put out today.” Does that really help the party? It makes the leaders seem out of touch with reality.

• Djou sounded sincere. The sheen of his consultants and his talking points had worn off. He seemed like the only Republican leader who recognized that the night was a defeat for his party. He was gracious in defeat.

• The fact that two white males opposed a Native Hawaiian man and a Filipino woman in the gubernatorial contest seemed to be no big deal. Neil Abercrombie and Brian Schatz are the first successful white governor and white LG ticket since Jack Burns and Tom Gill in 1970.

• By contrast, Hawaii is the only state represented in Congress entirely by people of Asian ancestry, and has the only Native Hawaiian in Congress. It is also one of the few states to have half its representatives in Washington be women.

• Linda Lingle, Duke Aiona, Charles Djou, Mufi Hannemann, Gary Hooser, Lynn Finnegan, Bobby Bunda, Norman Sakamoto, Cam Cavasso and Lyla Berg are looking for work. But Jon Riki Karamatsu has a new job.

• People in Hawaii seem more satisfied than the rest of the country. Djou’s message was if you’re not satisfied with the direction of the country, then vote for me. He didn’t get enough votes to go back to Washington for a two-year term.

• Why are Republicans so obsessed with Nancy Pelosi, and not with Harry Reid or President Obama? It was Pelosi who took the brunt of the heat Tuesday night.

• Obama’s language of change still works in Hawaii. Abercrombie used it to build a huge advantage over a younger opponent.

• One Republican pitch was the need for balance. Aiona said we needed a Republican in the governor’s office to counter the Democratic majority in the Legislature. Djou said we needed balance in the Congressional delegation to give Hawaii a voice in the Republican caucus. People vote for people, not balance.

• Youth doesn’t necessarily sell in Hawaii. Aiona is 55 and Djou is 40, both significantly younger than their Democratic opponents.

• The vote was a repudiation of Gov. Lingle’s administration. She had eight years to show Hawaii voters that it was better to have a Republican in the governor’s office. But her No. 2 was rejected. Incredibly, in a TV interview Lingle talked about how if voters had understood her “record,” they would have acted differently. In other words: Voters are dumb. Not the best tact for someone who’s planning to run for the U.S. Senate in 2012.