A stony silence cast a pall early Wednesday over
what was meant to be Hillary Clinton's
presidential victory party as, one by one, states
turned Republican red for Donald Trump.
The billionaire property mogul had not yet won
the White House but for many, it was only a
question of time.
No one was expecting such a violent slap in the
face. Some were saying it would be close, and
many Democrats said they were nervous as they
arrived at Clinton's event at the Javits Centre on
the west side of Midtown Manhattan.
But no one imagined the night would turn into a
political funeral.
At the food court, located underneath the hall
where Clinton had been expected to write her
name in the history books, two young women
sobbed, and the alcohol was free-flowing.
At a table, two other women stared blankly, their
hands on their heads.
"It is surreal," said one government employee who
gave her first name Margarita, a beer in front of
her.
But Bermejo tried to see the bright side on a
dark night.
"After I have a stiff drink of tequila, I'm going to
get up, and since I'm a hopeful person, then I'll do
whatever I can to make sure we vote him out of
office, because that's what democracy is about,"
she said.
STUNNING LOSS
Shock was the dominant reaction, rather than
anger at what looked like a stunning loss. New
York is a Democratic bastion, one that voted for
Clinton and seems far from Trump's America
that disdains Washington insiders.
"We definitely knew it was close not this
close," said 22-year-old Evynn Stengel, who
started drinking before the disheartening results
started trickling in.
"We feel like we live in a bubble voting for
Trump to me is so shocking."
NEED A MIRACLE
Faces once bright with the hope of seeing
America's first female president elected started
growing longer and longer at about 9:00 pm, when
the results appeared to be leaning Trump's way.
Then the Clinton supporters initially quite
talkative about the prospects for a Clinton
presidency and many of them dressed in Clinton
garb clammed up as the hundreds of journalists
on the scene began documenting the palpable
anxiety.
Heads were shaking in front of the giant screens
beaming the results to the crowd, and the voices of
reporters echoed in the huge hall, which was
otherwise silent.
Supporters manically refreshed their
smartphones in search of better news.
But The New York Times only had bad news for
them, with their forecast for Trump's chances of
winning rising as the night wore on.
In a desperate bid to motivate the crowd, New
York Governor Andrew Cuomo said: "We believe
that Hillary Clinton is going to be the next
president of the United States."
At 10:44 pm, The Times gave Trump a 93 per cent
chance of winning.
Team Clinton vanished, avoiding reporters like
the plague. She, her husband Bill and her
entourage were holed up at a hotel not far from the
venue.
After midnight, when The Times put Trump's
chance of winning at 95 percent, some started to
leave the party-turned-funeral.
A few brave campaign volunteers kept reporters
from going into a large hall where several
thousand dejected supporters were gathered.
"I am praying and I am not religious," said
Anabel Evora, a 51-year-old from Tennessee who
works at a non-profit organization.
"We need a miracle. I am sad. I'm about to cry."
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