Minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic ruling, U.S. Rep. Rob Portman was on the phone with high-level Bush campaign operatives who, he said, clearly thought they had won.

        “It's over,” said the Terrace Park Republican, a longtime friend of the Bush family who acted as one of George W. Bush's top point men in the controversy that has swirled since the elec tion.

        Late Tuesday night, as network television reporters tried literally to read the Supreme Court ruling and report on it at the same time, Mr. Portman was following the coverage and juggling phone calls, and trying to discern the mixed messages in the Supreme Court ruling and dissents.

        But his call to Mr. Bush's campaign headquarters in Austin convinced him that the Bush team had won the day.

        “It really appears this long, protracted battle is over,” he said.

        Mr. Portman said the Bush campaign officials he talked to expect Vice President Al Gore to concede this morning.

        “What we need to do now is get on with the healing,” Mr. Portman said.

        He said one of the principal concerns Bush campaign officials have now is that Democrats will try to sway some members of the Electoral College now pledged to Mr. Bush to vote for Mr. Gore.

        Tristate voters say there's a great need to see the election process end. Jill Dunlap, 33, from Liberty Township, said Mr. Bush should have won a long time ago. The registered Republican said Mr. Gore has tried everything in his power to win.

        “It's gone on too long,” she said. “Hopefully Bush will win and it will be over.”

        Marie Rogers, 70, of Norwood was trying to make sense of all the conflicting opinions from political pundits. She wasn't sure what it all meant but was sure of this: She wants a president.

        “I'm really just getting tired of all this.”

        Said Katy Krieger, 42, an Anderson Township Republican who voted for Mr. Bush: “I just wish somebody would make up their mind and make a decision and be done with it.”

        Mr. Gore should have bowed out gracefully long ago, she said. If, indeed, the ruling means Mr. Bush is president, she said, “It's a nice Christmas present. It's good for our country that we can finally say we have a president.”

        Even Gore supporters said their patience was wearing thin.

        “I think everybody is just totally fed up with the situation,“ said Angela Brown, 37, of Silverton, a registered Democrat who voted for Mr. Gore.

        “On the one hand, I admire (Mr. Gore's) tenacity, but there does come a point in time you need to throw in the towel. I think he put up a good fight and took all of the legal remedies that were available to him, but now it's time to move on.”

       Reporters Kristina Goetz and Cindy Kranz contributed.
       

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