That man with the woeful countenance was, in fact, a real politician: Bernard Casey, a telephone company executive who served eight terms in the Massachusetts legislature. Unfamiliar with defeat, he still had the face Rockwell wanted for this November 8, 1958, issue.
Casey is presented as a seasoned campaigner who overconfidently called himself “people’s choice” (printed on the signs on the left).
The cover is filled with narrative details — like the telephone that carried the bad news, which has been dropped to the floor and forgotten. The notepad with vote tallies show Casey wasn’t just beaten, he was buried in a landslide.
Casey’s character is reflected in the crowd of “supporters” who are quickly abandoning the candidate and crowding into the elevators. No one has stayed to offer consolation. Discarded campaign buttons lie on the floor amid the cigarette butts.
But one interesting character pauses at the threshold for a last look. The model was Tom Carey, whose weathered face reflected his 50 years of delivering Stockbridge mail by horse and buggy. He has the bemused look of an old-timer who knows just what happens to overconfident candidates, and is now enjoying being proved right.
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