t was not an everyday South Boston scene: thousands of Republicans cheering at a neighborhood rally, with signs announcing that ''Boston is Bush country.''
Even local Republican officials had to admit they were awed to see such a crowd of Republicans anywhere in Boston, even here, in this culturally conservative enclave.
''This many Republicans in one place? It's got to be a miracle,'' said Brock Cordeiro, 22, a University of Massachusetts student who drove from the Dartmouth campus with dozens of fellow Bristol County Republicans to watch the debate on video screens mounted inside the Murphy Memorial Skating Rink.
Cordeiro, wearing a Bush T-shirt covered in Bush-Cheney pins, said he thought the Texas governor was ''excellent'' during his first debate against Vice President Al Gore. ''We want Bush!'' he shouted along with the crowd.
Governor Paul Cellucci, flanked by his wife, Jan, and Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift as he introduced Bush, sounded a note of pride in his home state - or relief, at least, that nothing had gone wrong 10 hours into Bush's visit. ''It's a great day for Boston. It's been a great day for Massachusetts,'' Cellucci said. ''And it's been a great day for George W. Bush.
''We heard a great debater, a great leader, a man who will restore honor and integrity to the Oval Office,'' Cellucci said. Bush, who traveled to the event by motorcade rather than water taxi as originally planned, took the stage with his wife, Laura, and state Representative Brian Golden, a Democrat who yesterday said endorsed the Republican presidential ticket. Bush, his voice sounding faintly hoarse, introduced Golden as a Democrat - ''to make it even better, a Massachusetts Democrat,'' Bush said.
Then, almost as quickly as it came together, the unusual scene vanished.
Bush was gone by 11:15 p.m., his motorcade racing through streets that were surprisingly empty, thanks to police protection, back to the Logan Hilton, where he planned to tape several network television interviews.
As the candidate left the ice rink, a Bush aide pointed to the scoreboard, where a ''debate score'' had been registered in place of the hockey score. ''10-nothing,'' spokesman Scott McClellan pointed out. ''A blow-out.''
An equally enthusiastic group of Gore supporters assembled at the Park Plaza hotel downtown, with more than 1,000 people packed into the Imperial Ballroom.
Gore was accompanied by Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, Mayor Thomas Menino, and state Democratic Party chairwoman Joan Menard.
Kennedy gave a full-throated introduction, asking the audience to answer four questions: Was Bobby Orr the greatest hockey player ever? Was Pedro Martinez the greatest pitcher ever? Did the Patriots beat the Broncos last weekend? And ''Did Al Gore win that debate?''
The crowd erupted.
Kennedy passed the microphone to Tipper Gore, who was clearly bowled over by his introduction. ''I can't tell you what a thrill it is to be back in Boston. Both of us went to college here,'' she told the crowd.
In his remarks, Gore noted that the couple's three daughters had gone to college in Boston as well. ''This is a wonderful city. It is the place where, in many respects, American democracy started,'' Gore said. ''And it is our great honor to be able to come back to this city, in the 40th anniversary year commemorating the time when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon participated in the first presidential television debate, and debate here in the city of Boston.''
