It's time for bars

What they drank for the victory of Obama and how they flooded grief in Romny

It’s time for bars long before the victory of Barack Obama in the presidential election in America everyone spoke only about politics. “The Republicans have long prevailed, just New York is afraid to admit it to themselves ... But our gays betrayed Obama, and no one has done so much for them ...”-Akram assures, Libyan with 12-year life experience in the States. Place of action-Todd English B. In the New York Airport JFK. On the calendar - October 27, before the elections - 9 days, and in America to find another three weeks. Ekaterina Gordeeva posted in the United States for the past two weeks, talking with bartenders about democracy, the national question and the quality of whiskey

New York, October 30, 2012

27.10. New York. “You look bad,” Akram tells me. “I forgot what the pills from Jetleg are called,” I reply dutifully. Akram whispers right in my ear: “Bourbon. They are called Bourbon.

Fresh breath

Ten minutes later, I will order another double. And Akram will whisper in a whisper that he is a democrat: “One couple here the other day sat, gathered in the honeymoon for the waterfalls. They called Romni "fresh breath." People have no taste! " When on May 9, 2012, Obama on the air of ABC supported the idea of ​​same -sex marriages, it was a real male act, Akram says, and he was sorry that many have forgotten about it so quickly. (Under Obama, same-sex marriages were legislatively permitted in the states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maryland, Washington, in the capital's district of Colombia.-K.G.)

“What difference does it make! - Suddenly raises his head from his, apparently, also a burbone with a gray -haired cowboy in a neck. “They got it with their bicamera.” Why should they always have opposite views at everything? They are butt like goats. Is it possible to at least agree with each other, at least as an exception? Gays with abortion is no longer even funny. Raise the economy and leave me back already from people! Puritan is bad. By the way, I am Jack, ”the cowboy appears unexpectedly.

"Jack, you want too much!" - Akram picks up more air in the lungs, apparently to better protect Obama. But here it was in the luckistical union that they declare a landing on my plane in Washington.

"And then Barten Matt is pulling this shirt from the box under the cashier"

Cola Democracy

28.10. Washington. “If you smoke, sit outside,” says Matt and adds: will you really be alone? ”

Matt is a bartender in the Panache Cowboys Sportbar, where the cowboys are now on the “giants” on the “cowboys” on the football (American). He closes his eyes to the fact that I do not have ID with me. “I am 35,” I say. “And I want Bloody Mary.” Matt replies that he will consult with the manager. Next, pantomime in the form of faceted glasses and strict communication with a glaze of celery applied to the ear. Then Matt nods in the affirmative and summarizes: “It is a pity that you have not ordered Cuba Libre. Then I could tell you a lot about the elections. ”

The Cuba Libre cocktail technology is confident in Matt, there is something from the philosophy of the American elections: “There is rum and Coca-Cola. To be honest, everyone just wants Rum, they do not care about what they dilute him. And I do not know a single person who would return a cocktail if I poured Pepsi instead of Cola. Just COCA is more likely. And Pepsi once collaborated with the Communists. (Pepsico Corporation in the 70s of the last century launched a business in Eastern Europe, including the USSR.-The New Times.) This undermined its reputation, although it brought her a lot of money. But after all, the platform has a suz and repsi one-Cola. And with the elections. American democracy is Cola. And the Democrats and Republicans are Coca and Pepsi. We do not particularly distinguish the taste. But we have consumer habits ... "

At this moment, the “cowboys” are scored by “giants”, and Matt does not have time to finish the metaphor. In Panache Cowboys, many, including Matt, are dressed in the Cowboys club T -shirts. The match they won collapses to the bar screams, jumping and hooting of happy fans. “It will be even more fun here on the night of the elections,” says Matt. - Come. There will be a telly, instead of T -shirts with “cowboys” we will put on the face of Obama and Romny. ”

From the box under the cashier, Matt takes a T -shirt with Romny's face. It says: "Vote for Romny because it is white." Assuming, I ask for an account. Matt scratches the back of the head and twists another metaphor: “In California, you can smoke marijuana to calm down, in New York-to grate with gay if the heart wants it, and in Texas-to warm your ass with a gun, because you feel like that better. We are different people. And formally we do not care who will be the president. The president does not have a council for us. The President is someone who drives around the world on behalf of America. Of course, you like Obama, because you are from Russia, you live far and he is “cool” for you. But this is a zoo. And all this has already fed up with us. Enough to be freaks, you have to be Americans ... "

Hesus daughter

28.10. Foggy Buttom , another bar in Washington, where everyone is now preparing to meet a hurricane Sandy. Sometimes it even seems that this is more important than the elections. “Obama has at least fresh brains,” says Barten Hesus, looking at the frames of President Obama, who with an extremely preoccupied look seeks to certainly be able to return from the election trip to Washington - to the expected beginning of a natural disaster.

Permanent client, interlocutor and opponent of Hesus - Bobby named Ear. In fact, Bobby has no right ear. When Bobby leaves the restroom, Hesus whispers that Bobby was lying to everyone, as if his ear had been shot in a street shootout (Bobby from Texas), but people who know Bobby are convinced that it was a bite of fear.

I’m still trying to imagine this bite when Bobby, suddenly being behind me, begins to yell at the TV: “Well, what are you carrying! Well, who can you protect? " On the screen, President Obama vigorously talks about how much citizens who do not perceive Hurricane Sandy seriously upset him. Bobby waves his hands and yells: “You cannot protect anyone! You only climb and climb into everything: to Syria, to Libya, to Iraq and Iran, to Georgia to the Russians ... ”Then Bobby sucks and looks at me.

Hesus peacefully rounds the client’s tirade: “Obama really has a lot of undertakings. But four years about everything about everything is not enough. And after all, he necessarily needs to ensure that every American understands: why is it all why. This is how democracy works ... But I want to say: for us, Mexicans, he, of course, is still a great hope. ” Bobby with a roar lowering an empty beer glass to the bar. From a tight collar of his sweatshirt along the neck and cheeks up, angry redness slowly crawls to the very forehead: “He did not give you anything, moron! These are all just words. ”

Hesus sighs heavily. Of course, he remembers how in May 2011, speaking in El Paso, Texas, on the very border with Mexico, Barack Obama said: “Our farms need to give a legal opportunity to hire workers on whom you can rely and open the road to legal status. And our laws must ... faster reunite law -abiding families, and not split them. ” Even in that speech, Obama said that the construction of protective structures on the border with Mexico, the need for which he spoke in his last campaign, was practically completed. But soon it turned out that this was not entirely true. Mexican illegal immigrants still penetrate the country. “The border was built by the American state, and these two only scratched their tongues. Only Romni scratches his tongue somehow more convincing, ”says Bobby.

Indeed, in the struggle for the Spanish -speaking electorate, Romny went much further than Obama. He promised immigrants that anyone, even born in an illegally immigrated family, will receive US citizenship, and Green Card would automatically attach to a bachelor's diploma and above. Therefore, the data of some polls went before the elections: Obama, they say, will support only 40% of the Spanish -speaking (in the past elections it was 70%).

"

You are from Russia - so you said, it seems, yes? I wish you the speedy "Watergate"

"

“But my daughter was able to get to school for gifted children. And this is Obama, ”Hesus almost cries. He has a photo of a little black -haired girl at a desk. Almost not talking in English, Hesus’s daughter was able to get to such a school thanks to special Cogat and NNAT tests, which do not take into account knowledge of the language, but focus on the quick wit, liveliness of the reaction and the ability to adapt. According to The Washington Post, 25% of students in such schools speak at home in other languages. Obama opponents believe that this is bad. Supporters pull out another statistics from the sleeve: seven out of ten innovative discoveries of recent times in the United States were made by immigrant scientists. And in the report of the Center for Immigration Studies, it is completely stated that immigrants who lived in the United States for 20 years with bachelor's diplomas and more succeed more than indigenous Americans.

“This is all the nonsense of the dog,” Bobby suddenly remarks thoughtfully, staring at the TV. “Sandy will either finish everyone now, or again make Obama the president, and Bloomberg will be the mayor of New York for the fourth time.” Interestingly, these guys are really able to negotiate with disasters? "

November 2, Long Beach, New York

Forecast from Tanya

29.10. It rained all night and howled the wind. Still holding on to the umbrella, I try to move away from the hotel by more than 200 meters, when a loud -speaking car is bargaining throughout the street, that everyone needs to get into any nearby room. Such is the Dolce Diabolo bar - “Sweet Devil”. Its owner, the courageous Portuguese with the female name, Marishka Silent smokes behind the bar and tries to pretend that he is not. But, succumbing to the cries of a loud -speaking car and my knock, it still unlocks.

“Actually, we do not work today and, except for coffee, nothing,” says Marishka, drawing smoked air into the nostrils, as if the smell of tobacco will become less. I'm laughing. Marishka bold: "Does it smell a lot?" There is something like a partnership between us. For four hours in a row we will sit locked up, listening to the heartbreaking sodade from his computer, eating callous croissants from the counter and overturning one mug of coffee after another.

When Marishka lived in Portugal, it was customary to sympathize with the Republicans in his family. This was rather due to firm religious beliefs: everything in the family was respectable Catholics. But they could not imagine that, having moved to the States, having forgotten the money from rich Italian relatives and the name Dolce Diabolo, having finally opened three bars in America, they would be in the face of a possible president-Mordon. “Porca Madonna,” Marishka cries out unexpectedly in Italian. “I don't understand how to vote for Mormon!” Outside the window, the rain becomes less often, and the wind is calmer. Three gloomy Portuguese burst into the Sweet Devil - either friends, or groups of covering Marishkin business. With them is a funny beauty. When Marishka introduces me, it turns out that the beauty is called Tanya and that she used to live in Lipetsk. Unlike many in America, Tanya is well versed in political mechanisms. “Even if Romny loses Ogido“ Owning States ”, he will still win these elections,” Tanya says with knowledge. The states of Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Iowa and New Hampshire are traditionally controversial in America. The sympathies of their inhabitants, as a rule, are divided equally-even cases of divorces between a pestial husband and a Democratic wife or vice versa are known. “But this is all nonsense! - authoritatively declares Tanya. - Just Republicans do not know how to breed at such a speed. And for Obama - please: a whole generation of colored, ready for it and into the fire and into the water has grown. ”

After a couple of hours, her thought is almost word for the word, the chief analyst of the Fox TV channel Black Political scientist Juan Williams: “Over the past decades, the demographic situation in the country has changed dramatically. White is no longer a title nation in America. And in many states, African Americans, Latin American and American Asians make up the majority. And at least 70% of these people - for Obama. So, perhaps in the future we will even have to revise our elected legislation in something. In the meantime, these elections are the last chance for the Republicans. ” I will see this monologue of Williams on TV in the lobby bar of the Washington Hotel, in the company of a sad black bartender.

The tips of the old man

01.11. Washington, airport to them. Reagan. “Do you understand this or not?! They come moose, break the fence, come like this (a wave of hands) close to my house, look out the window and go to their forest. This is a big problem. But no one does anything, although I, of course, call, complain, call the police. They think that I will endure all this, and even go to the polls?! " -A big woman with a Baiga Timbra than I can help actively waves her hands right in front of the little nose of the little, but holding with the dignity of the old man, whom I will take in a pass by the American director Woody Allen, or for the ex-deck of the journalism faculty of MSU Yasen Zasursky. In fact, this is Bob Woodword, the former reporter of The Washington Post, the legend of American journalism, the idol of my students. The United States owes his golden pen first and so far the only case in its history, when the president has ceased to be fulfilling the performance of duties. In 1972, Richard Nixon was this president, and the reason was the story of the wiretap established by the Republicans at the Democrats headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, Washington.

After 40 years, it seems that Woodword himself does not fully believe that all this happened to him and actually happened. “Can this happen today with one of modern politicians? - Mr. Woodword as if as if I, but at the same time looks towards flying aircraft and replies: to believe in it is necessary for young journalists, otherwise why at all to fuss. "

“You are from Russia - so you said, it seems, yes? I wish you a speedy Watergate, Mr. Woodword optimistically rounds the conversation. He takes out his new book from his portfolio - she about the problems of Obama’s presidency, signs sweepingly, smiles again and gets into a cup of tea.

"So who to vote for?" -Suddenly hangs over the reporter of the bartender of Timbra-chi-mog-wrestling. She seems to have realized me even earlier that the old man is important and knows the answers to a thousand questions. “I don't know,” Woodword says without tearing off tea. "But shouldn't you help us choose?" - Timbra's pierces. “Oh no,” Woodword has noticeably perked up. - The task of modern political reporters is to understand the choice of the nation. And then, depending on the circumstances, to tell why the nation was right or mistaken. ”

Timbra seems to be offended. I - grab the straw. The question, of course, is terrible, but what can you do: "Mr. Woodword, who will you vote for?" He seems to be not surprised, it seems that he had been asked about this a million in life: “I have decided this issue for a long time, 16 years ago, when my daughter was four years old. I brought her to the polling station, briefly told about the candidates and asked to vote. She put a tick. Since then, we repeat this every four years. ”

Timbra-sho-mog-wrestling barely swallows the sweeping “but it is illegal”, as Bob Woodword rises and leaves. In the end, he will vigorously slap me on the shoulder and groan: “The sign is actually this: if the Washington team in American football will win three times in a row, then the democrats will win. No - Republicans. And do not argue. "

Without understanding anything in American football, I trusted Google. So: the Washingons already have two victories, the decisive game is November 4 ... A few more days have passed. The 4th Washington Redskinz with a devastating score 21:13 lost the Karolina Panthers team. And my idol Woodword counted because Barack Obama won.

October 30, New York, Kuins district, Brisi-Punte quarter. Sandy just passed here

04.11. Before the election - 2 days. New York. “VAI, VAI, Avanti! No! Aspetta !!! Aspetta un attimo! ” -shouts to someone in the dark, someone is also invisible. Grunt. Creak. A roar, a ringing of glass and a smell of good red wine cuts the hanging silence, the hanging silence. Wine, like blood in criminal films, flows from under the cabinet. "Cazzo!" - Antonio says in the hearts.

So for the first time I see him. All so tired and tired, he sits at the rack, clasping his head with his hands, and says: “A week, almost a week. I have not earned anything in a week. They killed my business. " "Who? I ask. - Who killed? "

He raises his head and seems to be surprised that not one.

On the street, a car pumping water roared and fought in the womb. These cars have been standing along the streets of the central part of New York for several days, having sucked in hoses to the cellars of houses. But the water completely does not pump out in any way, and the city is mostly immersed in some hopeless, dark and stinking Middle Ages.

Antonio is waiting for the noise. He reaches out and says in English: "Tony, the owner of this former bar." I explain that I know that he is not Tony, but Antonio, that he was from Abruzzo, from Italy, and that they told me that in his Benvenuto bar the best coffee in New York. Antonio smiles. He seems to be pleased with his reputation: “Yeah, irregular coffee,” he says with a sense of superiority (standard American coffee, weak and impatient to the taste of Europeans and Russians, is called Regular, regular). I have a tiny cup with, as it should be, a drop of a ristretto at the bottom.

В телевизоре мелькают кадры эпических объятий президента Обамы и Криса Кристи, губернатора Нью-Джерси, штата, наиболее пострадавшего от урагана Сэнди. «Им плевать на нас, они разруливают политические вопросы», — говорит Антонио. Дело в том, что Крис Кристи, ярый республиканец и один из основных претендентов на пост вице-президента в команде Митта Ромни, по мнению многих, также один из самых хитрых и дальновидных политиков в стране. До Сэнди губернатор Кристи крепко критиковал президента Обаму, с трудом удерживаясь в рамках приличий. Спустя сутки после урагана мужчины вначале о чем-то долго беседовали на борту спасательного вертолета, потом обнимались перед камерами, а потом Крис Кристи сказал: «Я хочу поблагодарить президента Обаму лично за его внимание к нашим проблемам». И умные аналитики из газеты Politico, и простые эмигранты вроде Антонио теперь совершенно не верят в то, что все дело в простой и понятной мужской дружбе, вдруг зародившейся на фоне стихии и ее чудовищных последствий. Кристи подозревают в хитром политическом маневре: почувствовав, что избирательные дела у Ромни идут не в гору, дальновидный губернатор проворно перешел на сторону противника. А в будущем, возможно, Обама поможет ему переизбраться на пост губернатора Нью-Джерси. А может, будут еще более интересные предложения.

"

Американская демократия — это Cola. А демократы и республиканцы — это Coca и Pepsi. Мы не особо различаем вкус. Но у нас есть потребительские привычки…

"

«Политики все время ругаются друг с другом в телевизоре. И люди, которые смотрят телевизор, тоже ругаются, потому что думают, что это все по-настоящему. Эти выборы очень похожи на реальную войну: подлости, подставы, клевета. Разве только не дерутся (впрочем, сын Митта Ромни в самом разгаре кампании высказывался в том духе, что хотел «врезать» Обаме. Но потом кандидат сказал, что его отпрыск пошутил. — К.Г.). Америка разделилась. А кому от этого польза», — довольно формально говорит Антонио, обвиняя в случившемся то ли телевизор, то ли откачивающую воду машину, гудящую за окном, то ли никого не обвиняя, а просто по-человечески расстраиваясь, что вот так вот все драматически сложилось в Америке, стране его мечты.

«Раньше можно было знаешь как угадывать результаты выборов?» — из-за винного шкафа выходит огромный дядька в винных подтеках, опилках и другой хозяйственной пыли. Антонио смотрит на него с ненавистью, дядька беззаботно продолжает: «Раньше было так: если бензин накануне выборов пополз вверх, все, крышка, демократы проиграют. Если с ценами все в порядке — значит, все хорошо, будет у наших дорогих демократиков победа. А сегодня что? Бензина нету ни хрена. На 180 миль вокруг. И я скажу откровенно: в этом городе сейчас никому не до выборов. Свет нам дали только вчера, воды пока нет, люди съехали со своих квартир и живут в гостиницах, которые, между прочим, взвинтили цены до $500 за ночь. И никто к нам с Антонио не придет сегодня вечером пропустить стаканчик вина. И никого мы не ждем на завтрак. Будем тут вдвоем сидеть и смотреть, как эти двое, Ромни и Обама, ловят друг друга на слове и обещают нам светлое и безоблачное завтра, вместо того чтобы что-то уже менять сегодня». Умного дядьку зовут Джош. Он — разнорабочий в баре Benvenuto. У Джоша довольно забавное хобби: когда он не роняет ящики с дорогим итальянским вином, читает газеты. Всех направлений. От корки до корки. Особенно, конечно, Джоша увлекает политика. Но эта предвыборная кампания подкосила его веру в истинную соревновательность кандидатов: «Это просто дорогое шоу для бедненьких избирателей».

Нынешняя избирательная компания и вправду самая дорогая в истории американских выборов. Уже подсчитано, что вместе кандидаты потратили $2,6 млрд. И это, конечно, неслыханно.

«Ничего удивительного», — говорит Джош, пытаясь рукавом стереть винные пятна со своего комбинезона. — Эти кандидаты вообще не парятся о том, говорят они правду или врут. Они парятся о том, чтобы быть избранными». Антонио смотрит на Джоша так, будто бы тот добил все оставшиеся в баре бутылки. «Но войска из Ирака-то он вывел? A? Реформу здравоохранения провел? A? Женщинам этим одинаковую зарплату с мужиками сделал? A?" — кричит Антонио, а потом еще какое-то время беззвучно жестикулирует, как будто вдогонку. Джош вздыхает: «Ты ничего об этом не знаешь на самом деле, дружище. Нет ни одного простого человека в стране, кто бы прочитал закон о реформе здравоохранения до конца и хоть что-то бы в нем понял. С остальным точно так же». (В опубликованном виде закон о реформе здравоохранения, названный в честь президента Обамы ObamaCare, составляет 370 страниц. — К.Г.)

Согласно опросам, если бы выборы случились сегодня, 4-го, за Обаму проголосовали бы 51,3 % избирателей. За Ромни — 47,9 %.

«Еще четыре года», — написал Барак Обама в своем твиттере после победы и поместил ссылку на эту фотографию

05.11. До выборов — 1 день. Minneapolis (Minnesota). Я бы хотела сесть у барной стойки», — чеканю я на входе в Nye's Polonaise Room, отрекомендованный соседом по самолету как лучший пиано-бар в Америке. Сосед, по всему видно, — приличный пьющий человек, потом крякнул и добавил: «А может, даже лучший в мире».

“The bar stands here mean nothing,” says a two -meter black hostess. - Consider it not. All the most important - behind Jeff's counter. Look, there is a miraculously there is a place. ”

За пианистом Джеффом висит портрет польского офицера и композитора Огиньского. Позже мне объяснят, что это дань памяти тому, что пиано-бар Nye's Polonaise открыли польские эмигранты первой волны, довольно быстро, впрочем, куда-то девшиеся. On the sides of Jeff, there are black and white clippings from newspapers, telling how brilliant Marilyn Monroe was here and how beautiful the novice Tom Waits was. But it cannot be read all the details: important biographical passages block the line of the regulars lined up for singing.

Коллективно они поют Pianoman, в обильных проигрышах которого пианист Джефф говорит с собравшимися о политике:

«Если бы я встретил мистера Обаму на улице или в этом баре, — мощное арпеджио си-бемоль минор, — я бы спросил: мистер Обама, на прошлых выборах вы доказали, что вы не расист, сумеете ли на этих доказать, что вы не идиот?.» - Salt major, people laugh and clap.

An elderly lady leans to me, a teacher at the University of Minneapolis Laura Graven: “You know, I am proud that I am a democrat! And everyone is proud of this hall. And Jeff too. Minneapolis always votes for the Democrats. We don’t even have a party office of the Republicans. ” "But we spend their money perfectly, really, guys?" - Jeff addresses the couple in the "airfields". They nod fervently. Their name is Robert and Collin. Robert has already sang, and now Collin's turn. He chose Bewitched.

On the final chord, Robert and Collin chant: “Vote no, vote no, vote for obama!” Вместе с выборами президента штату Миннесота, как и многим другим штатам, предстоит выбрать много больших и крупных чиновников (от конгрессменов до глав школьных комитетов), а также проголосовать по двум важным законодательным инициативам, по мнению многих, отделяющим Миннесоту от гордого звания прогрессивного штата. Firstly, we must speak out that so far the same-sex marriages have not been allowed in Minnesota. А во-вторых, необходимо ли введение специального идентификационного документа с фотографией для участия в выборах (иными словами, может ли человек, нигде не зарегистрированный как избиратель и не сфотографировавшийся на специальный документ, голосовать)? It is believed that if you vote for Obama, and on both of the above points, I must say a solid “no”.

"I look, are you in shock?" - He seriously asks me through a pile of notes and the texts of the songs, which lit up the piano cover, Jeff. If possible, I smile neutrally. «Коктейль «Обама» для нашей удивленной подруги из России», — кричит через бар Джефф, все топают, хлопают, улюлюкают и скандируют: «Vote no, vote no, vote for Obama».

The Obama cocktail has several popular recipes for which the general is the presence of pineapple juice. The most common recipe is this: tequila, kuantro, pineapple juice, freshly squeezed lemon juice, sprinkle large grinding at the edges, decorate pineapple slices.

November 6. Election day. Minneapolis. Bar 7. «Мне коктейль «Обама», — говорю я первому в Америке бармену, который не улыбнулся, здороваясь. "Mmm. Good, ”he almost does not open his lips.

Five minutes later, the cocktail stands on the table. "So arrange?" I think that with such an expression on this guy, of course, it would be more suitable for working in Russian catering. But I say aloud: "Have you already voted?" - "Yes." - "And for whom?" - "Sorry. Из-за этих (невнятный кивок) очень плохо слышно». And left. Can you imagine?

«Эти» — шумная компания молодых «белых воротничков». Они сняли половину дорогого бара Seven и теперь так активно следят за ходом голосования, что мне все время кажется, что это шутка, выборы — прикрытие, а на самом деле они смотрят футбол.

Цифры на предвыборном табло для демократов неважные: 143 — Обама, 152 — Ромни. «Только это ненадолго, — возникает у меня из-за плеча неулыбчивый бармен. — Он уже выиграл Пенсильванию». «Так за кого вы голосовали?» — «За президента». И опять ушел, растворился.

«Адам из Кентукки», — заговорщицки сообщает напарник нелюдима. «Да, меня зовут Адам и я из Кентукки. Это консервативные края», — он опять появился у меня из-за плеча. Потом опять исчез. И вот теперь стоит у меня перед самым носом, за барной стойкой: «Кстати, кажется, Миннесота впервые в истории прокатила демократов, смотрите-ка!» — О чудо, у него поднялась вверх бровь, он живой!

«Так за какого президента вы голосовали?» — меня-то не заболтаешь. «За того, который был бы новым», — опять исчез.

И не появился даже тогда, когда выяснилось, что это ошибка, что Миннесота, конечно, за Обаму (а также не против однополых браков), не появился, когда число голосов за Обаму и Ромни на несколько минут сравнялось да так и подвисло. В общем, его не было довольно долго.

Он опять возник, когда CNN, немного опередив The New York Times и сильно — BBC, первой гордо сообщит: Обама — президент.

«Ну что ж, — скажет унылый Адам, еще больше погрустневший, — с другой стороны, больше второго срока у него не будет. Да, кстати, я за Ромни. Это семейная традиция. Вам еще ваш «Обама-коктейль»?»

Мне становится его жалко. Я прошу счет и ухожу.

Взяв такси, еду в сторону аэропорта, где сняли для возможного празднования гостиницу Hilton немногочисленные и, видимо, приезжие республиканцы. Подсчет голосов еще идет, а они уже покидают зал несостоявшихся торжеств. Бегут, торопятся, везя маленькие походные чемоданы на колесиках.

Я разворачиваюсь и несусь к демократам — гостиница Crowne Plaza на другом краю города. Там пьют и поют, обнявшись, — не протолкнуться. Глядя на то, как люди, избиратели, переживают победу своего кандидата, как связывают с этим какие-то надежды, как искренне полагают, что это они, именно они помогли ему победить и уж он не подведет, человеку, не так давно пережившему российские выборы декабря 2011-го и марта 2012-го, становится как-то не по себе. Я возвращаюсь к нелюдимому Адаму, в бар Seven. Здесь почти пусто.

Адам «листает» телеканалы в ожидании победной речи Обамы. Тянется время. Наконец Обама появляется. Сверху сыплется демократический сине-бело-красный снег, две дочки, красавица жена. Все неловко обнимаются на сцене. И вот он остается один, чтобы начать с благодарности. «Мать моя, да он плачет, — вдруг вскрикнул Адам, и это было настолько невероятно, что я скорее поверила бы в то, что сама барная стойка заговорила. — Он плачет, он еле сдерживает слезы, ты только посмотри!»

Люди в баре подходят к экрану, всматриваясь. Адам продолжает: «Мой дедушка говорил, что слезы переворачивают жизнь мужчины. Черт возьми, может, этот парень станет наконец решительнее!»

Мне нравится ход мыслей Адама. Хотя слез на лице переизбранного на второй срок 44-го президента Соединенных Штатов Америки Барака Обамы я, если честно, не видела.