The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Passions ran high outside the glowing pillars of the U.S. Supreme Court. A full moon blazed overhead. And cheers erupted from the street when a ruling in George W. Bush v. Al Gore finally came Tuesday night.

"Woo! Woo!" came the rejoinder at 9:59 p.m. EST from about 100 people fixated on reporters sprinting from the court with copies of the decision in hand. Cars clogged the street, honking and cheering -- though most still were unsure for what.

They were just happy an end was in sight.

"I didn't vote for either of these gentlemen. I'd just like to see it resolved," said John Burns, 69, a retired sales executive from Glen Cove, N.Y. He was accompanied by his son, Martin, 42. The elder Burns first backed Democrat Bill Bradley, then Republican John McCain and finally the Green Party's Ralph Nader.

The ruling left two sisters -- Janet Wyatt, 63, a treasurer for a small dehumidifier manufacturing company in Houston, and Sally Bligh, 60, a speech therapist in Chicago -- at cross purposes. Wyatt voted for Bush; Bligh for Gore.

The sisters, who were in town for a relative's memorial service and walked over from a nearby hotel, agreed on one thing, though. "I'm glad that we live in a country whereby there's a structure for which we can make these difficult decisions," Bligh said.

People began pressing against the TV anchors' stands to glean the meaning of the divided court's complex ruling for Bush in the Florida presidential election case by reversing a state court decision that had ordered new recounts sought by Gore.

Word filtered that Bush seemed to have won while as many as 200 people suddenly crowded the sidewalk at the base of the white-pillared building's marble steps.

"Bush ran out the clock and won by virtue of that," said Gina Spade, 31, a communications lawyer who voted for Gore. "I wish the Florida Supreme Court would have been able to set a standard and recount the votes."

Anticipation gripped the hundreds of demonstrators and passers-by who mingled throughout the day with TV camera crews, reporters and photographers awaiting the decision.

The air of expectation and divisiveness drew the notice of high school students who toured the building and then joined the throng outside.

For them, as for the nation, it was a real-life civics lesson.

"There was a guy out here with a sign that said, 'Let's Come Together.' I think that's true," said Paul Bialoblocki, a junior at Northern High School in Owings Mills, Md.

"It's a historical moment and it just shows that our system works," said the 16-year-old aspiring lawyer. "It's comforting to me because, in my opinion, the election should be over, but at least it's going in an order it should be going in."