SEN. JOHN MCCAIN AND CINDY MCCAIN BRING ELECTION DAY 2008 TO A CLOSE BEFORE SUPPORTERS TUESDAY NIGHT AT THE ARIZONA BILTMORE RESORT AND SPA. (AP Photo)

Arizona Sen. John McCain took the stage far too early Tuesday night for his Republican stalwarts, because it meant he was conceding defeat, and the presidency, to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

I hadn’t understood why the McCain campaign decided several weeks ago to build a special stage on an outside lawn at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa. The resort has several large ballrooms that typically are used for such gatherings, and one such room indeed served as the election party headquarters for the evening.

But tonight, I realized that McCain was trying to keep pace with what the Obama campaign had planned for Chicago’s Grant Park. A unexpected victory for McCain would have meant quite a show under a pair of towering banners and two rows of sky-high spotlights in the colors of blue and yellow.

However, with the bad news flowing in all night, the McCain crowd was pretty deflated and didn’t fill the area that had been set aside to hear the senator in person.

McCain didn’t delay the pain when he came out with vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin and their respective spouses. The senator immediately told the crowd that “American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly,” and that he had called Obama to congratulate the president-elect.

Later in the 10-minute concession address, McCain took on his supporters’ pain as his own, saying about the 2008 loss “the failure is mine, not yours,” and “I don’t know what else I could have done to win this election.”

The cheers from crowd (and occasional boo when McCain spoke graciously about Obama) turned into anger for some when McCain was finished, and several people at the back turned around to vent at the various TV reporters standing on risers behind them.

“You slimy bastards!” shouted one man who stood out among the mostly well-dressed audience in his blue-jean jacket and blue-jean pants. “You got what you wanted, Barack Obama!”

The same man immediately turned to his neighbor and pointed to a election button with Palin’s face on his chest, “2012, I promise you. 2012.”

REPUBLICANS AND OTHER SUPPORTERS OF JOHN MCCAIN WATCH THE FIRST ELECTION-NIGHT RETURNS IN A BALLROOM TUESDAY AT THE ARIZONA BILTMORE RESORT AND SPA. (Photo by Le Templar/Tribune)

A strong crowd already has turned out at the Arizona Biltmore resort to support John McCain in his bid for president. The Frank Lloyd Wright Ballroom has been transformed into election party central with giant television screens, a live band and four banks of television cameras and lights around the back of the room. Early cheers went up as CNN immediately called Kentucky for McCain and showed voting returns in other southern states with the Republican ahead. But only a trickle of actual votes have been counted, and everyone seems to be ready for a long night of waiting.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN AND CINDY MCCAIN STEP OFF OF HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN’S “STRAIGHT TALK AIR” TUESDAY AFTERNOON AT PHOENIX SKY HARBOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. (Photo by Le Templar/Tribune)

John McCain ended his whirlwind visits to Colorado and New Mexico and landed back in Phoenix about 4:18 p.m. this afternoon. After the couple jumped into an SUV, another long caravan made its way to the Biltmore area. The McCains decided to spend a couple of hours at their condo before heading over to the Arizona Biltmore resort.

During the ride from the airport, Scott Horsley from National Public Radio told the media in my van that McCain’s plane (”Straight Talk Air”) had to abort its first attempted landing in Albuquerque, before going in safely so McCain could speak to some volunteers at the New Mexico campaign headquarters. Horsley, who has been covering the McCain campaign for weeks, said aborted landing isn’t that unusual even for a presidential candidate on Election Day. He guessed there was unexpected traffic on the airport tarmack, and McCain’s plane circled one while officials cleared the area.

John McCain hasn’t been elected president, but he’s getting chief executive treatment today as he traveled around Phoenix to vote and then to the airport to jet off to a couple of campaign events in states next door. Security has been intense, with hundreds of local police closing off freeways to give McCain’s motorcade free passage. Motorcycle officers also have been blocking off every street, driveway or cart path along the route.

While President Bush has visited Phoenix several times during his administration, such sweeping traffic closures are rare enough that dozens of people came out of their homes and businesses this morning to stand on the sidewalk and just watch what’s going on. The photo below is of a group of health care personnel from a private surgery clinic near McCain’s central Phoenix condo at about 8:45 a.m. who came outside for at least 10 minutes to gander at all of the security and vehicles hanging around.

(Photo by Le Templar/Tribune)
Assuming the police will follow similar procedures this afternoon when McCain returns to Phoenix, expect huge traffic tie-ups during the rush hour around Sky Harbor International Airport and whatever freeways the motorcade travels.

I’m here at the Arizona Biltmore resort press room, watching John McCain live on television as he speaks in Grand Junction, Colo. The days have been long, but he seems to be full of energy as he pushes to finish the day in fiesty style by giving yet another campaign stump speech to a boisterous crowd. It’s an interesting contrast with Barack Obama, who was shown about 30 minutes earlier playing indoor basketball.

McCain introduced all of the family that’s traveling with him, including his 95-year-old mother, Roberta. I saw Mrs. McCain in person about two hours earlier here at the Biltmore, as she came out from the hotel to find her place in the motorcade that would head to the airport (see the photo below). She walked and talked like a woman 30 years younger, and several people on McCain’s staff spoke in open admiration of her.

EVEN AT 95, ROBERTA MCCAIN, CENTER, IS SPENDING ELECTION TODAY WITH HER SON JOHN MCCAIN AS HE CAMPAIGNS IN COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO BEFORE RETURNING TO PHOENIX TO AWAIT VOTING RESULTS. (Photo by Le Templar/Tribune)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN AND WIFE CINDY DROP OFF THEIR ELECTION BALLOTS IN CENTRAL PHOENIX THURSDAY. (AP PHOTO)
The time and location of where John and Cindy McCain were to vote this morning was supposed to be a secret. But word leaked out to a few people, probably when the Secret Service cleared out the polling place at the Albright United Methodist Church to prepare for the arrival of the Republican candidate. About 100 supporters were waiting in the church parking lot when the McCains’ motorcade arrived about 9:15 a.m. Several had hand-printed signs on white posterboard to cheer McCain on.

Ignoring state law that requires all media to stay 75 feet away, reporters and photographers assigned to the campaign were escorted in right behind the McCains as they entered the church. Both McCains had already filled out the ballots and swiftly dropped them off before heading outside again. McCain signed a few autographs as they walked along, and the media crossed against a low block wall in hopes of catching a comment. But McCain just finished signing, smiled and moved on.

McCain’s hair became unruly in the breeze and his wife reached out to pat it down before they jumped back into the motorcade.

This probably is one of the worst day’s ever for a politician to have a bad hair today. But as you can see from the AP photo below, McCain’s white stuff is likely to be trouble. The photo was taken about 20 minutes earlier as McCain wandered the balcony of the upper-level condo that his family now owns near the Arizona Biltmore mall.

Once the voting was done, the motorcade headed to the Biltmore resort, where McCain spent about 30 minutes doing television media interviews and just relaxing. Then everyone loaded up for a trip to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where McCain and a huge entourage of staff, media and security were to board his chartered jet. McCain was greeted on the tarmac by Sen. Joe Lieberman, who apparently is joining the campaign for the final two stops in Colorado and New Mexico, a sign of how close the two have become.

Just before climbing aboard, the McCains did pose for photo with a number of Arizona staff and volunteers. This photo comes from my camera phone, as the batteries in my Canon digital had just died (Isn’t that always the luck?).

An empty press filing room this morning at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa. This ballroom will be packed with media from around the world later as John McCain prepares to hear if he will be next the next U.S. president (Photo by Le Templar).

Today, I will get another taste of world history as I spend part of the day shadowing John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, here in Phoenix. McCain arrived at the Arizona Biltmore resort sometime after 2:30 a.m., after barnstorming more than seven states on Monday and finishing up with a midnight rally in Prescott, Ariz. 

It’s expected that McCain will vote here in Phoenix some time this morning and then he’s scheduled to take quick jaunts to Colorado and New Mexico in last-minute attempts to win over the remaining few undecided voters in those two election battleground states.

McCain will finish Election Day 2008 back here at the Biltmore, watching voting returns and speaking to the nation from a special stage on an outside lawn. Only a handful of people and TV cameras will be present in person for that speech. Most well-wishers and politicos will attend an indoors party in a decked out ballroom.

MICHAEL O’NEIL

Longtime Valley political pollster Michael O’Neil has provided some analysis on the hundreds of national and state-by-state surveys on the presidential race and what they could mean for Tuesday’s election. His conclusion? John McCain’s only real chance of winning will be if young voters get overconfident, or get tired of standing on line, and don’t turn out in high numbers Tuesday. It’s young and first-time voters who are giving Barack Obama such an edge in several states that normally vote Republican including Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina.

As just about everyone expects young voters to break records Tuesday, O’Neil is giving McCain only a 10 percent chance of victory.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN PREVIOUSLY CAMPAIGNED IN PRESCOTT ON APRIL 5, 2008, AS HE TRANSITIONED FROM THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES TO BEING HIS PARTY’S NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT. (Tribune file photo)

You’ve probably already heard or read that John McCain will wrap up a grueling campaign blitz across seven states today with a late-night rally in Prescott. It has become an Arizona Republican tradition to spend a key moment in a statewide or national campaign on the steps outside of the Yavapai County Courthouse. The tradition dates back to the unlikely but almost successful presidential campaign of another legendary Arizona senator, Barry Goldwater. He launched the 1964 campaign at the courthouse because of his family’s strong ties to Prescott, and because it’s just a nice place to visit. A Democratic political family, the Udalls, also relied on Prescott’s scenery and the classic-looking courthouse.

Over the past four decades, other Republicans have sought a little Goldwater magic by connecting their campaigns in the one-time capital of the Arizona Territory. McCain always has finished his statewide tours there just before election day.

A lot has been written and said in recent weeks about the various problems and mistakes of John McCain’s presidential campaign. One of the few things that the campaign has gotten right is knowing that Americans still appreciate a little self-deprecating humor, which McCain himself specializes in.

Arizona’s senior senator showed this side again last night with his appearance on Saturday Night Live. My favorite moment was during the opening skit, when McCain and Sarah Palin/Tina Fey go on QVC (the only network his campaign can afford, unlike Barack Obama) to carry their message to voters and hock a few election-related items. I laughed out loud when McCain offered up some “Fine Gold” jewelry and the camera panned right to Cindy McCain dressed business-smart and pointing to fancy-looking gold chains on manikin necklines. Cindy’s appearance fit the scene perfectly and illustrated why the McCains have been popular with many Arizonans for so many years. Say what you want about McCain, he has a way of coming off as humble and just like you and me, despite his extensive military record, his wife’s wealth or his life spent in Washington’s inner circles.