Monday Afternoon, Chicago

The sun is shining here in Chicago, Illinois and there is a real buzz in the air on this fantastic autumn afternoon.

Just a short distance from my hotel, one of the largest media operations that I’ve ever witnessed is being put in place.

This being Barack Obama’s home city, this is where, dare I say it, the venue is being prepared for the victory celebrations for the 44th President of the United States.

Either this is going to be one of biggest parties Chicago has seen in recent history or there is going to be a wake the kind that has never been seen in this city.

The Obama Campaign has invited up to 70,000 people to the election night celebrations at the Lower Hutchinson Field at Grant Park right down at the lake shore.

But the Mayor of the city is preparing for another staggering 1m to 1.5m people to turn up outside the park itself to join in the celebrations.

The number of media people involved in covering the event is around 7,000.

Everyone is here to record the moment in US history when the first African-American is elected president.

If all goes according to plan Obama should take the stage in the early hours of Wednesday morning (Irish time) to deliver his acceptance speech. A moment that will be etched in history forever.

But could all of this go horribly wrong for the Democratic Party and the Obama Campaign?

If John McCain were to stage the greatest comeback since Lazarus then it would surely spoil the Chicago party.

And in that case, God only knows what might happen in this city tomorrow evening.

Either way it is going to be an interesting 24 hours in Chicago.

But as of now the atmosphere here is palpable…Chicago is bracing itself for another amazing chapter in its history.

Posted at 09:47PM Nov 03, 2008