Throughout a hectic night, Wofford calm

As polls closed around the state and his political future hung in the balance, Harris Wofford took a swim. As Wofford left the third-floor health club at the Wyndham-Franklin Plaza Hotel, he appeared to be the epitome of calm. He did not scream as a reporter and a photographer walked in on him as he was coming out of the shower. He even stopped to return a plastic comb to the attendant. Two floors below, his supporters and staff were nervously anticipating a long night of counting returns and hoping for a razor-thin victory. The press corps were settling in for a long night. After Wofford dressed and left the health club, aides swarmed around him, demanding that he return to his suite. Yet the ex-college president showed the patience of a teacher. He was not anxious or nervous -- he was happy to once again tell a group of reporters the message which brought him from a 40-point deficit. Downstairs the first returns came in. "Oh my God! Look at that," shouted Brian Matthews, an ex-college roommate of Wofford's son and longtime family friend, as TV monitors around the Franklin Plaza ballroom showed Wofford winning by over 30 points. But to Wofford's renegade consultant, James "Ragin' Cajun" Carville, it was no surprise. "I got three Jack Daniels in me and I don't have a computer model, but I know this state, and he won," said Carville, the only advisor clad in black Reeboks and faded Levi's, at around 10 p.m. last night. Carville, a deeply superstitious man, was also confident of a Wofford win because he had two poached eggs, rye toast and black coffee -- the same breakfast he has been eating since the polls jumped in Wofford's favor. In addition, as Carville offered to show, he was wearing his lucky underwear which he vowed he would not change until his candidate won. Meanwhile, Wofford was watching returns with his family and friends on a couch surrounded by his wife Clare, his son David, and his newborn grandson, Nathaniel, who was oblivious to the history he was witnessing. Wofford was at ease, answering questions from a small cadre of reporters, bantering with supporters, and offering advice to any one considering a career change at 65. "I recommend if lighting strikes you at 65, it's a good challenge," Wofford said as he joked to his longtime friend from the Kennedy Administration, Sargent Shriver. Back in the ballroom, more returns came in and a contagious enthusaism and optimism began to sweep over the crowd who, with drinks in hand, applauded wildly as the results where announced. After about an hour, the calmness of the hotel's fourth floor was shattered as Wofford and his family and friends, sequestered in suite 410, erupted in jubilation as Thornburgh called to congratulate Wofford on the victory. While such luminaries as Shriver and Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn) hugged and congratulated everyone in sight, Carville -- who just arrived and was lurking in the doorway -- was swept up by an ecstatic crowd who wanted to pay thanks to him. Downstairs, a deafening eruption of emotion shook the walls as the good news was announced. College Democrats mobilized to line the entrance-way with "Wofford for Senate" signs, and photographers jockeyed for position. Then, like out of a fairytale, the "Rocky" theme started. The crowd cheered louder. In walked Pennsylvania's newest underdog victor, a 65-year-old Kennedy liberal who beat George Bush's protege and sent a shock wave all the way to the White House. Hard to believe he was swimming laps in a flourescent orange swimsuit just three hours before.

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