In Victory's Glow
How the Bush team orchestrated its nail-biting win in the 2004 election

Tuesday, November 2, 2004, was the night the ghosts died in the Bush White House. There was the ghost of his last campaign, which George W. Bush lost among voters but won in the Supreme Court. There was the ghost of his father's last campaign, when even winning a war was not enough to earn a second term. And then there was the ghost of Election Day afternoon, when the Bush campaign team was haunted by the possibility that they had got it all wrong, as the first exit polls came in and nothing was going their way.

In the end, an election that was supposed to be about all the ways the country is divided at least brought Americans together at 193,000 polling places in democracy's messy leap of faith. In Ohio the polls closed at 7:30, but the lines were so long that people were still voting at midnight. Some people admitted they just did not want to face their neighbors or their children and say they had not bothered to show up. Others said if you don't vote, you can't complain and did not want to be silent at a time like this.

About 120 million Americans voted, 15 million more than in 2000. When the votes were tallied, Republican George W. Bush had won 286 electoral votes to 251 for Senator John Kerry, the Democratic candidate. Of the three most hotly contested swing states, Kerry took Pennsylvania, while Bush snagged Florida and Ohio. Bush also became the first President since 1988 to win a majority of the popular vote, with about 51% to 48.5% for Kerry.

So consider the obstacles Bush overcame to win the election. Since the country previously met at the polls, voters have encountered a record deficit, job losses, airport shoe searches, rising bankruptcies, and bruising battles over stem-cell research and the definition of marriage. On the eve of Election Day, fully 55% of voters said the country was moving in the wrong direction. Only 49% approved of the job the President was doing, and anything below 50% is supposed to be fatal to an incumbent. A war that Bush promised would cost no more than $50 billion a year is running at nearly three times that. And he faced an opponent with a long record of public service, a shiny record from a war Bush had avoided, and a Democratic base that had never been so united.

Bush says the war on terrorism is not a clash of civilizations, but this campaign was, by his careful design. He never really pretended to have much to say to Democrats beyond I will keep you safe. He relied largely instead on inspiring those who agreed with him already, who think stem-cell research has been oversold and believe abortion is a sin. His 97% approval rate within his party surpassed even Ronald Reagan's. Bush understood that his best weapon against Kerry was less what Bush did than who he was. You may disagree with me, he said at every stop, but you know where I stand.

For Kerry supporters, there is some consolation that Bush will have to take responsibility for finishing what he started in Iraq. For Bush supporters, there is an obligation to recognize that the intense effort of the other side was as much an expression of love of country as any pledge, hymn or flag. For people on both sides, there is relief that the day affirmed the sustaining virtue of American democracy. However fierce the battle and however high the stakes, on Election Day citizens go to the polls, close a curtain, and cast their vote—and then go home to honor the outcome because we have only one President at a time. —from TIME, November 15, 2004

Questions

1. How many electoral votes did Bush and Kerry each win?

2. What obstacles did Bush overcome to win the 2004 election?