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Bush wins re-election

Tracy Clark-Flory

With 51 percent of the popular vote, President George W. Bush
won his bid for re-election on Tuesday, Nov. 2, and Bay Area
Democrats are still reeling from the loss.

Bush received 59, 017,382 votes to Kerry’s 55,435,808, resulting
in 274 electoral votes to Kerry’s 252.  Ralph Nader received
394,794 votes, less than one percent.

Additionally, the Republican party continues to hold the
majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Many reports are crediting social issues like same-sex marriage
for the Republican house majorities and returning Bush to
office.

“I believe it did energize a very conservative vote,” Sen.
Dianne Feinstein told the San Francisco Chronicle.  “It
gave them a position to rally around. The whole issue has been too
much, too fast, too soon.”

Constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage were on the
ballot in 11 states, and passed in all.

Critical attention had shifted to Ohio Tuesday night as election
results filtered in, echoing back to the turmoil in Florida during
the 2000 presidential election.

Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell announced that a large
number of provisional ballots, approaching 175,000, will not be
counted for at least 11 days.

The Bush camp announced their confidence early Wednesday morning
that he had won Ohio and the election as a whole.

“We are convinced that President Bush has won
re-election,” said White House chief of staff Andrew Card
before dawn.

A Republican has never won the election without winning the
electoral vote in Ohio.

“The vote count in Ohio has not been completed,”
said Mary Beth Cahill, the Kerry campaign manager, early Wednesday.
“There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted.
We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio.”

In addition to Ohio, Iowa and New Mexico hung in the balance
Tuesday night with limited election results.

Officials in Iowa announced that the secretary of state would
not issue a final count until Wednesday due to machine malfunctions
and fatigue among poll workers, although Bush held the lead.

Bush also held the lead in New Mexico, but the secretary of
state planned to release final results late Wednesday in order to
allow time to wade through thousands of absentee ballots that had
yet to be counted.