USUALLY by this time, Chicago is knee-deep in snow. But yesterday, in stark contrast to the long, cold winters of the past few years, the Windy City enjoyed temperatures of 20C. Many felt it was an omen that the "icy grip" of the Bush years was melting away.
The citizens of Barack Obama's home city began queuing at polling stations from the early hours.
Then, from lunchtime, thousands started to descend on Grant Park, the venue for a huge party being thrown last night in anticipation of an Obama – and
Democratic – victory.
Visitors from around the world had made a pilgrimage to share in what they expected to be a moment of history. They just wanted to be able to say they were there.
Locals set up stalls selling "Obama won" badges and memorabilia, all fervently hoping the print costs would be worth it, and that they were about to see the United States vote in its first black president.
Earlier in the day, Chicagoans talked of little else but their tremendous pride in the Illinois senator who built his political life in the city.
"It's a beautiful day and it is going to be a beautiful result," said Dan Alvarez, who runs an insurance agency. "Obama's going to win and at last we can hope for real change.
"He represents what is best about America – family values, belief in education and health, as well as national security."
Many commentators had been predicting a clear win for Mr Obama as early indications showed there would be a high turnout, with the good weather across the country seen as a boost to Democratic hopes.
Mr Obama was the day's first big winner in the presidential races in the tiny New Hampshire villages of Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, where a tradition of having the first election day ballots tallied lives on. Mr Obama defeated the Republican John McCain by a count of 15 to six in Dixville Notch. It was the first time it had chosen the Democratic candidate since Hubert Humphrey in 1968.
Hart's Location reported 17 votes for Mr Obama, ten for Mr McCain and two for write-in Ron Paul, a congressman. Hart's Location had favoured the Republican candidate in every election since reinstating early voting in 1996.
In Chicago, however, there were signs of the organisational problems that have cast a shadow over previous elections. At the Kingsbury Plaza tower block, which was acting as a polling station, some voters discovered they had been sent to the wrong place and there were some angry scenes. "It was horrible," a first-time voter galvanised by the Obama campaign told The Scotsman, as she stormed out with her fiancé.
But elsewhere, the excitement was palpable as voters came out of the polling stations. Another young voter, David Maxie, said: "It's going to be great. We're going to get real change. I feel so happy about today."
Ron and Andree Stone, a couple in their 50s, also voted for the Democrat. "I met Mr Obama five years ago," Mrs Stone said. "He was trying to become senator then and nobody gave the skinny kid a chance. But I was so impressed with him then, I knew he was going to be the one, and now he is on the verge of becoming our president and restoring pride in our country."
At another polling station, at the Chicago History Museum, there was not just a sense of history being made but of history being repeated – the last Illinois lawyer to enter the White House was Abraham Lincoln.
Russell Lewis, the museum's chief historian, was hoping Illinois would also produce the first black president.
"It's interesting that Obama clearly tried to connect himself with Lincoln," Mr Lewis said. "He launched his campaign in the old state capital of Springfield, the home of Lincoln. That's also where he introduced his running mate Joe Biden. (But] it didn't entirely wash, because Obama's campaign has been about the future, not the past, and his colour has become incidental."
Mr Obama and his wife, Michelle, cast their votes at 7:30am at the Shoesmith Elementary School in Chicago, where they were met by hundreds of well-wishers. The school had a makeover for the historic occasion, polishing its floor for the first time since the 1950s.
The presidential hopeful then headed with other Illinois Democrats to the nearby state of Indiana, where the contest was neck and neck, for some last minute campaigning.
In Phoenix, Arizona, Mr McCain cast his ballot at a church before flying to Colorado and New Mexico, two battleground states he knew he was likely to need to score an upset victory. He gave supporters a thumbs-up sign and was in and out of the polling place within minutes.
He said: "I'm very happy with where we are. We always do best when I'm a bit of an underdog."
Back in Chicago, Neicy Ward, an African-American shopkeeper who is based on West 95th Street in the South Side, which Mr Obama represented in the Illinois state legislature, has been doing healthy business selling Obama '08 T-shirts and memorabilia.
She said: "Change is coming. It won't happen immediately, but it's coming. Thank God."
However, even in this solidly black district, poor compared with the towering commercial centre and north of the city, there were a few who clearly intended to vote Republican.
The South Side is the end the line for Chicago – not just on the city's main metro, but also figuratively, in its wealth and good fortune. West 95th Street is the home of Trinity United Church of Christ, which Mr Obama attended until the scandal over comments made by its pastor, the Rev Jeremiah Wright. There, the volunteer security guard, a worshipper at the church, implied his vote would be going elsewhere. "Well, I was in the military," he said. "I understand some of these issues."
And there are some in the city, especially among small business owners, who fear Mr Obama is a product of what they see as a corrupt Chicago Democratic Party machine.
One Filipina shopkeeper, who did not want to give her name, told The Scotsman that Democrat officials in the city had ordered her to supply them with food for a birthday party and then refused to pay.
"I can't separate Obama from the corrupt Chicago Democratic Party," she said. "I think McCain is a more honest man, and that's why I voted for him."
The full article contains 1093 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
