AUSTIN--The red carpet was laid out in front of the Texas State capitol building. But Texas Gov. George W. Bush never got his chance to walk on it as the 43rd President of the United States.

In what may go down as the strangest presidential election night in United States history, a victor was declared who was not yet a victor, a concession speech was awaited but never came, and an old-style Texas victory party was left in the lurch.

The Austin crowd, initially deflated by the apparent loss of the key electoral votes of Florida, could sense a Republican victory when the state became contested once more.

But in a cruel touch worthy of the Bard himself, the crowd celebrated sweet victory when Florida finally seemed to be in the Bush camp--only to be told a little over an hour later, that the man from Midland had not won the Presidency after all.

And more than a day later, the victor of the election remains unknown, with a recount in the state of Florida controlling the destiny of American politics--not even Las Vegas could have predicted this night.

The celebration started off festively for the nearly 20,000 supporters of Texas Gov. George W. Bush who flocked to the state capitol building on a frigid evening for an election night celebration. Food stands and beer taps lined the sectioned-off block of Congress Street, and a live mariachi band bellowed tunes as the crowd awaited the first state election returns.

That first hour of results, projected by CNN on a jumbo screen to the gathering, looked promising for Bush, as he jumped to an early lead in the Electoral College with a series of victories.

But then Gore was projected as the victor in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida.

The crowd was not visibly affected, cheering loudly for the first glimpses of Bush shown on the jumbo screen, who was watching the incoming results with wife Laura Bush and his parents, Barbara and former President George H. W. Bush.

Standing in the center of a swarm of reporters after the projected loss of the three critical states, Texas Lt. Gov. Rick Perry provided prophetic words for the night.

"Projections are just projections," Perry said. "It's the final count that matters."

But even with an unexpected Bush victory in Gore's home state of Tennessee, some Bush faithful started to doubt their candidate's chances as the map of the Electoral College began to take shape.

"I'm a little bit worried," said Curt Hinshaw, who traveled to Austin from Longview, Texas with his wife and two children. "I really expected him to take Pennsylvania and Florida."

But then the country was given its first shock of the night--after analysis of exit polls, the major networks decided to take Florida from the Gore electoral column, putting the state back up for grabs.

What seconds earlier had seemed like an uphill battle suddenly became wide open, as deafening cheers drowned out the sound of the election results.