things done I waited three hours in the cold in the middle, hiding under the jacket of the press pass to cry in peace, democratic as everyone else. Li, on the pavement of Quincy Market, the heart of the old Boston to give a final farewell to John Kerry, another senator of the city 'who tried to follow in the footsteps of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and failed. "At least four years ago - he says the old woman Dorothy, the same as just before I had screwed a cappuccino at Starbucks - we were sure that the Republicans had stolen the result. This time we really lost. I do not know anymore, 'Who are the Americans now. "
The stage of the festival set up in Copley Square now there's' more '. Even the headquarters in the luxurious Fairmont Plaza. Bruce Springsteen and' a distant comet. The news Kerry will speak 'at Faneuil Hall just spreads the message of Republican victory, after a night and a morning of uncertainty. But the auditorium of "democracy" in Boston, not' even sufficient to accommodate all the journalists to Following the campaign. In front of Faneuil Hall on Congress Street are now a few thousand of us assembled people. wait with folded hands to the bitter cold, with downcast eyes, the coming of the procession of the defeated. It seems to attend a funeral.
The parade begins to arrive. Before the off-road with John Kerry, his wife Teresa and daughters Vanessa and Alexandra. Then the car with John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth. Comes the symbol of Boston senator, Ted Kennedy. The first applause. "Do not give up, keep fighting for us in the Senate." Then again the wait. The cold weather and the tears of those who do not believe it's over ... Who would have thought that one day I could suffer so 'as to the wounds of a country not mine.
Act One Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts will not go on stage at Copley Square, the square of the festivities in Boston that night. But supporters Democrats are already waiting at the gates to hundreds. Brooches designer Kerry and Edwards mingled with the Red Sox caps, the local baseball team who last week won the American League. Democratic speakers take turns on stage and rock stars, John Bon Jovi to Sheryl Crow.
The tom-toms that could be a memorable night has been quick to circulate, the square that looked like a desert sprang to signs, banners, stalls, street improvised choruses. Prudence begins to slip from hand also to Democratic leaders, the party chairman Terry McAuliffe came to the Fairmont Plaza Hotel, getting into the press room with a smile from ear to ear: "Tonight - has -that America has turned the page, tonight John Kerry is elected president. "
Senator symbol of the city, Ted Kennedy, in an interview with CNN altrettando seemed optimistic:" It seems that America has decided to divide on a new path. "
The certainties to start celebrating are not there, but the euphoria is evident, including drinks and canapés, giving way laughter, smiles, pats on the back. In 2000 the same happened, then the party was ruined by the big disappointment: the exit polls turned out to be a sieve, then-Vice President Al Gore thought he won too.
Act Two
Take to the streets with hope, Democrats begin to evacuate from Copley Square with the disappointment on her face painted. While the show started outdoor-concert in the lobby of the Fairmont Plaza Hotel, the headquarters of the campaign, measure the temperature of the voltage. Only an hour ago, bursting with joy, cheers and laughter, now took over the power, in small groups of delegates and party insiders follow the update of the results on a dozen screens, intervinte the spinner on the American networks have reduced in number.
The first partial results tell a different reality from the dream that too many had hatched the entire afternoon, the Republican president George W. Bush has taken so far were all won four years ago and leads in both Florida and Ohio. The square does not see him, the trickle of results, but feels that something is going wrong and, under a light rain, many are beginning to evacuate.
"Zogby, Zogby - Eric exclaims, sitting in front of the TV with a hat full of pins and vest democratic Journal of the Boston Red Sox - Zogby predicted a Kerry victory and instead ...". The reference is to more cautious estimates of the pollster American analysts took as a bomb in mid-afternoon.
The only two in the last hour and a half timid applause greeted Kerry's victory in the State of New York and the abysmal advantage in Pennsylvania, fifty points. The data is representative and involves only a few counties but is good for the heart.
Act Three
The announcement of the victory of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in California is enough to explode into a roar endless Coplay Square, the plaza in Boston where they are collected in a pending music thousands of supporters of democracy. The night the presidential election, after great anticipation, has been generous with good surprises for the Democrats, with thousands crowding in the rain.
The California Democratic stronghold, is anything but an unexpected result but allows Kerry to narrow the gap in the balance of electoral votes. On the stage of Coplay Square, the background of the library of Boston (the oldest of America) has performed James Taylor. The event has as main stars John Bon Jovi and Sheryl Crow.
Act Fourth
After the "fall of Florida" - as it is called Bush's victory in the state - the hopes of the Democrats are now clinging to the outcome of the vote in Ohio. In the halls of the Fairmont Plaza Hotel democratic supporters are glued to television screens to hear comments and analysis of policy experts. A little 'as if the football team was losing the game of the year, everyone looks to pass the images of election results.
Outside, meanwhile, continues to rain. Jon Bon Jovi, a singers who have supported the Democratic campaign, began to sing for the supporters of Senator Kerry. Domina pero 'a sense of sadness in many are leaving Copley Square, the square where the festivities had been prepared for victory.
Kerry and 'still at his residence in Beacon Hill with his family and some friends.
Epilogue
On the U.S. presidential election the curtain falls: George W. Bush was reelected for a second term in the White House. The script was already written by the winning time: the Democratic candidate John Kerry in the White House threw in the towel shortly after 11 hours of Boston (the 17 in Italy). He has not made a statement his supporters or the press but directly with a phone call of congratulations to the President.
The disadvantage in the decisive state of Ohio, 136 thousand votes can not be retrieved with the counting of provisional votes, subject to those expressed for suspected irregularities in the registration on the electoral roll. The Democrats have resisted the evidence of the numbers a night, until the admission of defeat.
The president has got about three and a half million more than Kerry in preferences at the national level, winning the popular vote four years after losing it in the challenge against the former vice president Al Gore. By winning the state of Ohio over the edge of the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the victory in the presidency. The remaining two states, Iowa and New Mexico, but remained uncertain, however, are not able to overturn the result.
America is divided into two halves, one, that of Bush, slightly wider than the other. In his phone call to Bush, which lasted less than five minutes, Kerry took the opportunity to put pressure on the president to commit itself to heal the divisions of the country and offering his cooperation to work together. The phone down, game over for the Democrats after a campaign tense and no holds barred.