About Tonight

The drumbeat started when snow was still on the ground. Throughout the city, you heard it over and over again.

"It's time for change."

Sometimes it was coming from then-fledgling candidate Ted DeSalvatore, sometimes it was coming from a frustrated resident, sometimes it was coming from city councilors, frustrated with incumbent Mayor Dan Mylott.

Today, it came from the voters, who overwhelmingly voted for changed when they gave Lisa Wong over 60 percent of the vote in the preliminary election.

The result -- and the turnout -- are nothing short of a surprise. A political neophyte, Wong was putting her name on the ballot for the first time. She was going up against an old-school, long-time resident and insider in Councilor Thomas Donnelly, and an energetic, oxygen-sucking force of nature in DeSalvatore, who always managed to stay in the spotlight.

But for many voters, worn out by the constant financial problems and hoping for a glimmer of change, went with the 27-year-old self-described economist. She struggled to find a mix of wonkish capability and enthusiastic visionary, but found the perfect combination last Thursday. Her debate performance was energizing and embracing, but it also gave a glimpse into Wong and her campaign.

She was the only candidate to pack the room, a sign of organization and understanding how having a crowd cheering you on can help momentum. She asked Donnelly a question that she so knew the answer, she read a prepared rebuttal -- pitch-perfect because Donnelly had given the answer she knew was coming. It showed preparation and smarts. When asked about job loss detailed in a Mass Inc. report, she not only said she's work to bring jobs back, but quoted numbers out of the report. Any other candidates able to do that?

In the glow of victory, Wong is now a great candidate. After that debate performance she was a good one. Before that she was an OK one.

Now, the surprise of the primary must show she can run from the lead. She was able to sneak up on people, who assumed the Donnelly machine and his base would get him pretty far. It got him to the general election, but he has a large challenge ahead.

Now, it will be time for the thorough inspection of Wong. Donnelly, already hard-charging against her, will likely increase the noise. Let's compare her to Matt Leinart: A stud college football player who drops in the draft after the little potential issues get nit-picked at. She will be nit-picked considerably over the next 42 days.

But today wasn't so much about Wong as it was the voters. As the spring went on and summer dragged on, the financial problems mounted. Throughout, the buzz for change turned into a shout, finally heard today. Wong ran a good campaign, but this was a result fueled by a desire for a new face in City Hall.

For DeSalvatore, today was the end to a run that was one of the more dramatic you're going to see. His heated rhetoric grabbed a solid base, but he also turned off a number of voters. He may have tried to be an everyman candidate, but his aggressive stand wasn't for every voter. He brought passion to the campaign, but his focus on crime wasn't an issue for many voters, who were focused on finances. If he ran that campaign in Ward 4, he wins going away. Citywide, however, voters needed something different. DeSalvatore experienced a number of beautiful ups, but was vexed by his self-made downs. In the last few months, he was an electronic media punching bag, as blogs popped up around the city working against him. In the end, he offered change, but not the right kind of change.

So, can Donnelly make up the gap in the next six months? He needs to pick up over 2,000 votes -- certainly the largest political challenge he has ever faced. While he advocated change tonight, he ran his preliminary campaign as the steady old guard. It will be difficult for him to change course now. After months of neglecting responsibility for the city's financial issues, he must find a way to embrace some of it while trying to offer changes for the future.

Wong must now maintain the discussion she started with voters this summer. They most certainly are listening. She'll have to adjust to a hotter spotlight, and find a way to stay a step ahead of the sligns and arrows coming her way.

She has the ultimate advantage. The drumbeat of change claimed Mylott over the summer, when he bowed out of the election. The orchestra of change today seriously wounded Donnelly. Lisa Wong holds that orchestra's baton, and her challenge now is to keep the music playing until Nov. 6.