Just in case you haven't all seen...
QUOTE
3/11/2004 4:44:23 PM ( Source: Reuters)
Kerry calls Bush to concede election
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Senator John Kerry has conceded the White House race to President George W. Bush in a phone call, ending uncertainty about ballot counting in Ohio and cementing Bush's re-election to a second four-year term.
In a dispute that evoked memories of the prolonged election recount in Florida in 2000, questions about provisional and absentee ballots in Ohio had delayed the final outcome of the presidential election for hours.
Kerry will make a public statement at 1 p.m. EST (6 p.m. British time) in Boston, a senior aide to the Massachusetts senator said. Bush is expected to speak publicly two hours later.
Ohio's 20 electoral votes were the final hurdle to give either candidate the Electoral College majority of 270 needed to win the White House after a divisive campaign that focused on the war in Iraq, the battle against global terrorism, and the economy.
Bush's election win sends him into a second term facing daunting challenges from a worsening insurgency in Iraq -- the aftermath of his decision to invade the country in 2003 -- and soaring federal budget deficits.
Republicans also celebrated expanded majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, building the president's mandate and easing Bush's agenda in Congress.
Unlike the disputed 2000 election when Democrat Al Gore lost the White House but won the popular vote, Bush captured the popular vote this time. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bush had 51 percent of votes overall against Kerry's 48 percent.
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card made a predawn appearance before Bush supporters at a planned victory rally to say Bush had a "statistically insurmountable" lead in Ohio and had won a majority of the popular vote.
"We are convinced that President Bush has won re-election," Card said, adding Bush would make a statement later on Wednesday.
Kerry's running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, told supporters in Boston there would be no concession until all votes had been counted in Ohio.
"It's been a long night, but we've waited four years for this victory, we can wait one more night," Edwards said, adding: "We will fight for every vote."
PROVISIONAL VOTES
Ohio's Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell had estimated that as many as 175,000 provisional ballots could be cast, and counties reported as of Wednesday morning that 135,149 had been issued.
Blackwell on Wednesday asked 10 counties that had failed to report provisional ballot totals to complete their counts by 2 p.m. (7 p.m. British time).
Network projections showed Republicans would hold at least 54 of the 100 Senate seats, three more than they now have, and widen their slim majority of the 435-member House in the new 109th Congress, set to convene on January 3.
That will make it easier for Bush to push his conservative agenda through Congress, potentially making his tax cuts permanent and appointing more federal judges including possibly some U.S. Supreme Court justices.
"With a bigger majority, we can do even more exciting things," said House Majority leader Tom DeLay, a Republican from Texas.
Bush also captured Florida, the biggest of the toss-up battleground states, and rolled up wins across the country to move within reach of victory. Kerry won Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes but New Hampshire was the only state won by Bush in the bitter 2000 election that the Democrat captured.
Long voter lines were reported nationwide and few major voting glitches were recorded in the final act of the long campaign.
Kerry had challenged Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq without adequate allied backing and his economic record of tax cuts, job losses and burgeoning budget deficits.
But Bush's argument that he could keep America safe after the September 11, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York, and his criticism of Kerry as an ineffective and flip-flopping leader, resonated with enough voters to put him on the verge of a win.
With 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, Bush had captured 29 states with 274 electoral votes. Kerry won 19 states and the District of Columbia and 252 votes. Bush held a lead of nearly 4 million votes over Kerry nationwide with 99 percent of the precincts reporting.
Still undecided were Iowa and New Mexico, but only Ohio could make either candidate a winner.
Bush's projected win in Florida, where his brother Jeb is governor, gave him a giant boost in his bid for re-election and added 27 electoral votes to his column. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 stopped a vote recount in Florida, handing the election to Bush.
Taken from MSN News Thing.
Oh GODS we're doomed...