In a campaign appearance at Boston's City Hall Plaza last week, Reagan directed his appeal to young voters, who have rallied behind the Republican standard more than any other age group.

A largely young crowd of Reagan supporters celebrated the GOP victory last night at Reagan-Bush headquarters in the Marriott Copley Place Hotel.

"Landslide, landslide," the jubilant Republicans chanted as they watched election returns color network maps blue on a wide-screen television.

"We take pride in being Americans. That's why we're for Reagan," said Eugene Novak, a Reagan-Bush volunteer and a student at the Wentworth Institute of Technology.

A more somber atmosphere prevailed at the Park Plaza Hotel, where Bay State Mondale-Ferraro backers had little to celebrate.

Early returns indicating a Mondale victory in Massachusetts lifted their spirits, but the mood soured when television networks later projected Reagan the local winner.

Mondale supporters listened with teary eyes as their candidate conceded the race from his Minnesota headquarters.

"No, no," they shouted when Mass. Gov. Michael S. Dukakis called on Democrats to "accept the verdict" and "rally behind the winner."

State Mondale-Ferraro coordinator Paul Lanzikos found some consolation in his ticket's tight Massachusetts finish, saying, "Massachusetts may be becoming the conscience of the nation."