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THRILL OF VICTORY
Mitt’s people
BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI

"To be honest, I’m surprised it’s been seen as close," confided the slim, subdued man wearing a crisply tailored suit and matching tie at the Park Plaza Hotel, in Boston, the setting of what would become the Mitt Romney victory party. Despite election forecasts pegging the Massachusetts gubernatorial race as a dead heat, this supporter had nary a worry. As he calmly explained: "Look, Mitt is as close to a winner as the Massachusetts Republican Party is going to get. So, yes, I think he’s going to win."

That rather prescient prediction came at 7:50 p.m., well before the tallies would trickle in from communities across the state, well before a victor would be declared. But even before the polls had closed, the Park Plaza’s grand ballroom was brimming with confidence. Hundreds of Romney supporters, mostly of the wealthy, white suburban set, mingled through the gilded hall to the strains of big-band music. They huddled at tables of cheese cubes and veggie wedges. They clinked glasses of white wine and vodka and tonic. And, of course, they ruminated on the finer points of the Romney campaign — how "my man Mitt," as our state’s new leader was called, had built an unprecedented grassroots organization, had brought in the right Republican icons (i.e., Rudy Guiliani), and had simply worked hard.

It was a spirited gathering whose energy only intensified throughout the night. By 9:30 p.m., after just one percent of the state’s precincts had reported and New England Cable News had broadcast Romney with a six-point advantage over challenger Shannon O’Brien, many of his supporters could hardly contain themselves. Packs of Mitt fans flocked around the television sets to whoop it up, their faces red with glee, their fists in the air. One hour later, when 25 percent of the precincts had reported and WHDH-TV Channel 7 plastered Romney’s mug above the phrase PROJECTED WINNER, the mood was euphoric. Chants of "Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!" echoed off the gold-colored walls. Whistles and catcalls shook the crystal chandeliers.

Perhaps it was inevitable, but such shows of confidence soon gave way to cockiness. Indeed, Romney supporters, eagerly awaiting their candidate’s acceptance speech, wound up passing the time by poking fun at the beleaguered O’Brien camp. O’Brien, they gloated, amounts to nothing but a "state employee" and a "big loser" now. Worse still, she amounts to nothing but a "sad, sad Democrat."

"Get off the stage why don’t you," shouted one beefy, balding man wearing a dark-blue suit and gold-framed glasses, as O’Brien’s image flickered across TV screens. He then blurted out the following ditty: "Na, na, na, na. Hey, hey, hey. Goodbye!" Dozens of supporters chimed in, pointing their fingers at O’Brien and waving their red-and-blue Romney signs. Finally, at 11:08 p.m., the man himself ascended the stage to the notes of the Monkees’ "I’m a Believer" in the background.

He played to the crowd’s fevered pitch by holding up an advance copy of the Boston Herald, which trumpeted the headline it's mitt. He described O’Brien as a "committed woman" and "tenacious opponent," a far cry from last week’s charge that her manner was "unbecoming." He ticked off the obligatory thanks — to the "heroes in this campaign," as well as his family and friends. He then set the tone for what will be four more years of Republican leadership in this state: As governor, he pledged, he would usher in a new "era of inclusion" extending not just to business people, but to minorities, women, and low-income residents. The only way to solve the state’s ever-worsening problems, he concluded, is to "come together to create opportunity for all our citizens" — a notion that earned him a rousing round of applause.

Let’s see if "my man Mitt" keeps his word.

 

Issue Date: November 7 - 14, 2002
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