Kerry 'delusional' about Ohio, says Bush camp
The George Bush campaign has said John Kerry’s refusal to concede the state of Ohio was delusional.
“The people of Ohio have spoken and John Kerry has lost,” said campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt.
Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards told supporters who stuck it out through rain and defeat in key states that they would not give up based on vote forecasts and an advantage for Bush in the disputed state of Ohio.
“John Kerry and I made a promise to the American people that in this election, every vote would count and every vote would be counted,” Edwards said.
“Tonight, we are keeping our word, and we will fight for every vote. You deserve no less.”
While Edwards spoke to the nation and the crowd at Boston’s Copley Square, Kerry was at his home with advisers including fellow Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill.
Campaign officials were initially hopeful about Kerry’s prospects earlier on Election Day, but the mood turned sombre as Bush took the lead in electoral votes.
Kerry asked for votes into the evening, then took a catnap as the polls closed across the country, according to adviser Joe Lockhart. He woke for a dinner of vegetable soup with his wife as the results came in.
“America’s a strong country and I think we can be stronger, but that’s up to the American people what road we go,” Kerry said after casting his vote at the Massachusetts Statehouse.
For nearly two years, Kerry was surrounded by supporters who often said they would vote for anybody but Bush. The senator used that idea while trying to build support for his own positions – and himself personally.
He focused on lost jobs, on rising heath care costs, underfunded schools and record high gas prices – blaming Bush and saying he would do better.
Kerry also hit hard at the president’s handling of national security, chipping away at Bush’s greatest strength. He called the president an incompetent commander in chief who misled the country into war.
Kerry appeared to connect with voters most on domestic concerns, with those who supported him saying that the economy and jobs were their top issues, followed by the Iraq war. Voters who said they were worried about health care costs or job losses in their communities overwhelmingly supported Kerry over Bush.
He also was the clear favourite of black voters and led among Hispanics and women, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.
Kerry and Edwards campaigned for votes via satellite until the final hours before the polls closed. Each conducted about 40 interviews with television stations in battleground states.
They also got some help from former President Bill Clinton, who over Monday and Tuesday conducted about 100 radio interviews and taped more than 100 phone messages that were called into voters’ homes, said his spokesman, Jim Kennedy.
Kerry’s comeback to contender status came after a brutal summer campaign in which Bush spent tens of millions of pounds on advertising that portrayed Kerry as a liberal flip-flopper who would raise taxes and couldn’t be trusted to run the military.
The anti-Kerry group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth piled on, accusing him of lying about his decorated Vietnam battle record.
While usually leaving it to others to point out that Bush got into the National Guard while Kerry was chasing down the Viet Cong, the Democrat fought back. “I defended this nation as a young man and I will defend it as president of the United States,” was his refrain.
Still, the attacks against Kerry appeared to leave an impression with voters. About half surveyed outside the polls said Kerry mostly says what he thinks people want to hear.
Kerry had his Senate seat to fall back on in case of a loss – a cushion running mate Edwards didn’t have. The North Carolina senator decided not to run for re-election at the same time he was running for vice president.
But even a Kerry loss wouldn’t necessarily mean an end to Edwards’ political career.
Edwards and New York Senator Hillary Clinton had been expected to explore their own White House bids for 2008 if Bush won a second term, but a Kerry win was likely to put any such plans off for at least eight years.
Edwards arrived in Boston last night for a star-studded party at Boston’s Copley Plaza featuring singers Sheryl Crow, Jon Bon Jovi, Carole King and Black Eyed Peas.
As returns made it questionable whether they could upset an incumbent president, a triumphant reunion was put off as Edwards remained with his family in his hotel room and Kerry at his Beacon Hill home. Edwards emerged about 0730 GM) to address the crowd, straining to keep his smile and his tone of voice even.
“It’s been a long night, but we’ve waited four years for this victory,” Edwards said. “We can wait one more night.”
