With the Bush campaign claiming victory and preparing to issue a statement later today, the Kerry campaign maintains that enough provisional ballots remain in Ohio to give him the state’s 20 electoral votes. However, Bush’s 140,000 vote lead is, according to White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, statistically insurmountable and it seems that the country is faced with another four years of the Bush administration as Bush has won the popular vote by 3.5 million votes.
Faced with the reelection of Bush, easily one of the most unpopular presidents in recent memory, it seems that the Democratic Party will be in a state of disarray following the election. While a considerable amount of effort went into defeating President George W. Bush, the Democrats were never able to fully distinguish themselves from Bush and Senator John Kerry’s positions often sounded like echoes of Bush’s own positions and ultimately it seemed as though Kerry’s major platform was that he was not Bush. Certainly within many progressive circles this “Anybody But Bush” attitude, epitomized by the selection of a centrist Democrat who pledged to fight terrorism and cut corporate taxes, dominated the pre-election discussion while Kerry positioned himself close to Bush with no distinct issues. Perhaps the 2004 election will mark a change for the Democrats as they clearly cannot win by simply trying to be slightly nicer Republicans, and with independent candidate Ralph Nader only receiving 390,679 total votes and none in the contested state of Ohio, they must take sole blame for their failure.
In other election news, Michigan voters passed Proposal 2, a ballot initiative defining marriage as between one man and one woman exclusively. Michigan joins eleven other states in passing the so-called “anti-gay marriage” amendments. Proposal 1, an ambiguously worded measure that would give voters some control over gambling, has also passed. Local Congressperson Vern Ehlers, an enthusiastic supporter of the invasion of Iraq, was reelected, as was Congressperson and Chair of the House Intelligence Committee Pete Hoekstra.
Related posts:
- President Bush Announces Plan for Victory in Iraq, Releases 35 page Document Outlining Strategy
- Levin and Stabenow Vote for Failed Iraq Withdrawal Amendment, Then Vote to Give Bush Money Anyway
- Bush and Cheney Claim “Terrorists” want a Democratic Victory
- Obama Wins Presidency, Michigan, and Kent County
- Article: An Impossible Victory for CAFTA?
