Then the president walked in, and more than 100 New York City firefighters — everybody in the room wearing a dark blue polo/golf shirt with "NYC firefighters UFA Bush-Cheney '04" and the seal of the Fire Department — broke into the chant, "four more years."

My lifelong pal Jimmy Boyle walked in with President Bush, along with UFA President Steve Cassidy, plus Karen Hughes, Condi Rice and many more.

I was already inside, along with Gov. Pataki and Rep. Vito Fossella. When the president got to me, he grabbed my shoulder and said, "Thanks — this was a great idea. These guys are the best — they're the best, the best."

Eventually, he made it to the middle of the room, and stood with Steve Cassidy, who started to talk — then lost his composure. The president put his arm around him.

Then Steve said it, "We're proud to endorse" President George Bush for re-election. He talked about Sept. 14, 2001, the president's visit to Ground Zero, and how much it meant to them, that day and afterward.

The president was pretty choked up, too — very emotional — as they presented him with a special firefighter's helmet with the words "UFA Commander-in-chief Bush."

When the president spoke, he kind of turned Steve Cassidy's words around: He said the firefighters will never realize or appreciate what they did for the whole country in those days and weeks — or "what they did for me." He said, "That day at Ground Zero has shaped my thinking forever."

He spotted Bob Beckwith, the firefighter with him in that famous photograph, and grabbed him to shake hands.

Heck, he shook hands with everybody in the place — twice. He posed for pictures with everybody — and kidded around, too.

When one guy couldn't get his camera to work, the president told him "Get that camera working — I'll wait here all night."

It couldn't have been more human. Condi told me, "You have no idea what this is going to mean to him — this revs him up so much."

I was glad to have my friend and neighbor Ken Haskell there. He lost two brothers — battalion chief Tom and firefighter Tim. He gave the prez a T-shirt that says "brothers in battle" — it shows two arms around the Twin Towers. After I introduced them, President Bush said to Ken, "Your poor mother, how is she doing? . . . Losing two sons, my God . . ."

An incredibly real moment.

*

I grew up with Jim Boyle in Sunnyside; whenever we get together, we bore our families to tears with stories of the old neighborhood. Jimmy was a New York City firefighter for many years and was twice elected president of the union — the Uniformed Firefighters Association. He's also a lifelong Democrat — he actually headed Firefighters for George McGovern in 1972.

Jimmy's son Michael was also a firefighter. He was murdered by terrorists at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Because of those attacks and President Bush's response to them, lifelong Democrat Jim Boyle is now George W. Bush's most loyal supporter, incessantly working his network of fire-union allies to line up support for the president.

Wednesday morning, Jimmy and I had breakfast at Engine 40/Ladder 35, the firehouse at 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue near Lincoln Center. Michael Boyle had worked at this firehouse for almost two years. Twelve men from the house died on 9/11.

Talking over coffee and buns in the firehouse kitchen, two things were obvious: These guys will never get over 9/11 — and they're just as brave and dedicated as ever.

The firehouse wasn't the place for me to be pushing partisan politics, but each guy who spoke to me privately said he was strongly for Bush. This coincides with what I have heard from at least 90 percent of the other New York City firefighters with whom I have spoken

I blocked out the rest of the afternoon to finish up plans for the night's event — which I'd known about for days and worked toward for months, but couldn't say anything to anyone about it.

After landing at Kennedy Airport, the president detoured from his public schedule and went to the large, white Italian Charities building on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, Queens. There he was greeted by the loud, enthusiastic roars of New York firefighters.

It was an intense and emotional rally of support assembled by Steve Cassidy.

In all my three decades of politics, I have never seen anything come close to the electricity that was in the room. The symbolism and meaning of having these men, who on 9/11 fought the hardest and suffered the most in the first great battle of the 21st century, standing there with President Bush, could well be the defining moment in this year's presidential election.