The power and the glory

THE tide began turning late on Tuesday evening. Earlier, the portents were not good for President George W Bush’s re-election campaign.

As Mr Bush returned to Washington DC aboard Air Force One on election day, the first exit polls suggested Senator John Kerry was out-performing him in the national vote, and, critically, in the three battleground states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

By early evening, the Democrats were making encouraging noises. "It's going to be a good night for John Kerry," Ted Kennedy said.

However, as the polls closed and the first solid figures filtered in, a different scenario emerged.

John Kerry was eating dinner at his home in Boston when his staff informed him the positive forecasts were unravelling.

When Mr Kerry phoned Mr Bush in the White House to make his concession yesterday morning, he was acknowledging a defeat that had been apparent for almost 12 hours.

The outcome may have been close, but it was decisive.

Mr Bush, in one swoop, erased the blemish of 2000 when he won the election after a hotly disputed victory in Florida, despite getting less of the national popular vote.

This time the Republican president won the support of 3.5 million more voters than his rival, with clear victories in the key states of Florida and Ohio.

At a strategy meeting with his advisers in Boston early yesterday morning, Mr Kerry concluded the 140,000 shortfall in Ohio could not be made up by the 175,000 provisional votes cast in the state.

"I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail," he said in his concession speech in Boston yesterday afternoon.

"In America it is vital that every vote count and that every vote be counted. But the outcome should be decided by the voters, not a protracted legal process."

Voting patterns across America almost mirrored those of 2000, with only New Hampshire and New Mexico changing allegiance.

The Bush campaign gave the lie to the expectation that a record turnout and a large youth vote would favour the challenger. The Bush campaign attracted massive support from socially conservative and rural Americans, including four million evangelical Christians in vital swing states.

Mr Bush's clear mandate was strengthened by Republican consolidation in the Senate and Congress, allowing him increased leverage to push through policy programmes.

In their post-election addresses, the opponents struck a conciliatory note.

"We had a good conversation," said Mr Kerry of their phone conversation. "We talked about the danger of division in our country, of the need, the desperate need, for unity, for finding the common ground, the coming together. Today I hope we can find that healing."

The president, addressing Democratic voters, said he had a responsibility to the whole nation. "I will need your support and I will work to earn it," he said.

However, speaking later, Vice President Dick Cheney said the victory, plus gains in Congress, had given the 44th presidency a clear mandate for its agenda.