Kerry concedes election to Bush
By William L. Watts, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 11:10 AM ET Nov. 3, 2004
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Sen. John Kerry conceded the election in a phone call to President Bush Wednesday morning, the Associated Press reported.
Kerry's concession dashed his long-shot hopes to overcome a substantial lead by Bush in the decisive state of Ohio.
In early trading on Wall Street, U.S. stock markets leaped on the news that Bush had held his lead overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up more than 155 points. See full story.
Kerry campaign officials had been reviewing whether the Democratic challenger stood any chance of pulling out an extraordinary, come-from-behind win in Ohio, where he trailed by about 130,000 votes. As many as 250,000 ballots that have yet to be certified as legitimate reportedly remain outstanding.
Bush, who lost the popular vote to Vice President Al Gore in 2000, led Kerry by 3.52 million votes, or 51 percent to 48 percent. Bush is the first candidate to win a majority of the votes since his father did it in 1988.
With the votes of Ohio, Iowa and New Mexico still in question, Bush held a 254-252 lead in the Electoral College. The president only needs to win Ohio's 20 electoral votes to achieve the 270 needed to win re-election. Iowa and New Mexico also leaned in Bush's direction.
Kerry, for his part, needed Ohio's electoral votes to keep alive his hopes for a victory. Yet analysts doubt that the uncounted provisional ballots are sufficient to make up such a large difference.
Still, the Kerry campaign had said it deserved more time. "The vote count in Ohio has not been completed," said campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill in a statement. "There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio."
Ken Blackwell, the Republican secretary of state in Ohio, said there might be as many as 175,000 provisional ballots statewide. He warned that it could take 11 days or more to adjudicate and count the provisional ballots.
In addition, an Associated Press survey of election boards found about 140,000 provisional ballots in Ohio, cast by people whose names don't show up on regular poll lists.
Even as the last votes were being counted, the Republicans turned their thoughts to plans for a second term. With a stronger hold on both the House and Senate and with a decisive victory in the popular vote, Republicans were confident they would enact most of their major legislation.
Wall Street celebrated the victory of its favorite. It's the "best of all possible outcomes," sad Art Hogan, chief investment officer for Jeffries: no change in administration, a fiscal policy the Street knows, and a stronger GOP-hold in Congress. Listen to the full interview.
"Now, with 'nothing to lose' and the Congress on his side, I'd expect some dramatic initiatives," said Sherry Cooper, chief economist for BMO Nesbitt Burns. "Among them, look for further tax cuts and the permanent reduction in the dividend and capital gains tax rates."
Bush's victory was assured by a strong coalition of his two bases: Pro-business groups and traditional values voters.
Business groups cheered the Bush victory. "It's hard for us to ask for anything more," said Pat Cleary, senior vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers. See full story.
Unlike in 2000, when Bush campaigned as a "compassionate conservative" and downplayed moral issues, fundamentalist Christians turned out enthusiastically for Bush in 2004.
"Values issues played the largest role ever in a national election," said Gary Bauer, head of the Campaign for Working Families, who claimed partial credit for the election of nearly a dozen senators and more than 30 members of the House. Read more about the role of religion.
The potential for a prolonged ballot battle in Ohio recalled the 2000 election, which was decided in Bush's favor only after a 36-day recount battle in Florida and a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
CBS News projected Bush to win the Sunshine State, which was the center of the contested vote count in the 2000 presidential election, just before midnight.
The race, which featured nearly seven months of intense campaigning since Kerry vanquished his Democratic primary rivals this spring, has been remarkably and consistently tight.
Bush and Kerry traded small leads over the course of the race, but they entered Election Day with most surveys showing a statistical tie nationwide and in several key battleground states
William L. Watts covers politics for CBS MarketWatch. Reporters Val Brickates Kennedy in Boston and Robert Schroeder in Washington contributed to this story.
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