Following his loss, he's grown a beard. A goatee to be exact.

Flaherty's beard: At City Council meeting today.

The preliminary precinct breakdowns from the city show that Michael Flaherty actually carried Ward 5 (Back Bay, Beacon Hill and part of Fenway), although barely (2,544 to 2,472). In the September preliminary, that was Menino country.

Floon also carried the day in Ward 16 in Dorchester, another area Menino took in September. Obviously, though, that and the Flaherty strongholds of Charlestown, South Boston and neighboring Ward 7 in Dorchester were not enough to overcome Menino romps in areas such as Hyde Park, Roslindale and Roxbury.

Matt O'Malley, who has much better eyes, dives into the numbers in much greater depth. On Blue Mass. Group, Bob has still more analysis of the numbers.

Call him Hizzonah again.

Boston today gave Tom Menino a record fifth term today, re-electing him by a 57-43 margin over challenger Michael Flaherty.

"Let's be clear: We haven't made history with this election, but we will in what we create of it," Menino told supporters. History will not record the win until we make "a new Boston Miracle for our kids," he said. "Complacency is the highest hurdle we face. Let's fend off the temptation to rest on past accomplishments."

Kevin McCrea explains why he's voting for Flaherty tomorrow - and how he almost endorsed Menino instead, he and his wife even went to dinner with the Meninos at Hammersley's Bistro in the South End. In the end, he writes it came down to a single issue:

WBUR declares Chuck Turner kind of a cult leader, says that helps explain why the Innocent Until Proven Guilty Councilor will win tomorrow.

The Globe compares Menino and Flaherty on education and crime.

Scot Lehigh reports on a visit by King Thomas the Eternal to the Globe, did not come away impressed.

David Kravitz, a Flaherty backer at Blue Mass. Group, dissects the Globe's endorsement of Menino, doesn't find much meat there.

The Globe endorses Menino.

The Herald reports Flaherty is going after the party-hardy vote and details the Kenneally-mobile.

John Carroll gets his crank on, describing Menino as "his usual incoherent self" at a WBUR forum yesterday and calling Flaherty a "Boston mayoral footnote."

The South End News gets the scoop.

Floon journeys to Downtown Crossing today to use The Hole as a backdrop for their call to force developers to put up performance bonds before they start digging.

Seems the majority owner of the Hole is sitting on $2.8 billion in cash and is looking for good investments, which apparently Boston isn't.

Globe: Menino, Flaherty present opposing views of Boston in heated debate.
Herald: Michael Flaherty, Tom Menino take last licks.