For weeks, John McCain’s crowds have been filled with what Sarah Palin might call “real Americans”–flag waving red staters, with hunting hats, facial hair and well-worn jeans. Classic rock and contemporary country played at events.
By contrast, McCain’s Election Night celebration has a country club feel. The palm trees are lit with color-changing pastel lights and the women in the crowd sip wine in black cocktail dresses. The setting, the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, is a tony affair. The “Spa Complex” is 22,000 square feet. McCain will give his address tonight on resort’s lawn. The desert mountains will not be lit, but colored spotlights astride a giant American flag will provide a dynamic backdrop. More than a thousand people will cheer him on, while an overflow ballroom broadcasts the remarks a few hundred feet away.
No word yet on when McCain will speak, but he arrived at the Biltmore at about 7:40 p.m. local time, 9:40 EST.
