RALEIGH, N.C. _ It was officially Election Day on the East Coast when Hillary Clinton stepped to the podium here at the final rally of her campaign, a years-long crusade that will soon make her either the country's first woman president or the victim of a crushing defeat.
This was Clinton's fourth event of a marathon day that had already taken her to Pennsylvania, Michigan and back to Pennsylvania again.
But Clinton looked giddy as she took the stage with her family in a college gymnasium, her arms pinwheeling in a mock jogging motion as she strode into the arms of Lady Gaga and Jon Bon Jovi, the final two singers who lent their voices and star power to her candidacy.
"I believe that she will win," the crowd chanted, jumping up and down and clapping in unison as Clinton approached the podium.
She beamed back at the audience.
"I've got to tell you," Clinton said. "This is sure worth staying up for."
She warned of difficult tasks ahead, reminding supporters they will need to "repair the breach" that has been exposed by this fractious campaign.
"This election will end," Clinton said. "But our work together is just beginning."
Clinton closed her final rally in the same way she had finished countless ones before, asking her supporters to "prove conclusively that yes, love trumps hate."
