Four more years.In the early hours of November 3, long after the last polling places in the West had closed, there still was no declared winner in the presidential race. But Florida's 27 electoral votes had already gone to President George W. Bush, the Republican incumbent. This was huge. The President was also ahead in Ohio, another key swing state. But Democrat John Kerry  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. was not yet ready to give up on Ohio, where
vote-counting continued.
By morning, however, it became clear that the numbers were overwhelmingly in favor of President Bush. Unlike the 2000 election, he had a commanding lead in the popular vote. And he soon had enough electoral votes to guarantee a win. At around II a.m. ET, Senator Kerry called the President to admit defeat. The race was over. Moral Values Why did Americans vote to re-elect re·e·lect also re-e·lect tr.v. re·e·lect·ed, re·e·lect·ing, re·e·lects To elect again. re President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney? According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. political analysts, the President's vulnerability on such issues as the war in Iraq and a lukewarm luke·warm adj. 1. Mildly warm; tepid. 2. Lacking conviction or enthusiasm; indifferent: gave only lukewarm support to the incumbent candidate. economy were offset by two other concerns. A majority of Americans share the President's views on moral values. They also trust him to wage a successful war on terrorism Terrorist acts and the threat of Terrorism have occupied the various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. government for many years. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by the usa patriot act . Many political analysts expected a huge voter turnout among young people. But that did not happen. The percentage of first-time voters in this election was not much higher than it had been in 2000. According to pollsters, young people who voted for the President said they were concerned about moral values and terrorism. Those who chose Senator Kerry identified the war in Iraq as their chief concern. Overall, turnout was unexpectedly large in many parts of the country, with voters waiting several hours to cast votes. Although dire predictions about flaws in voting machines voting machine, instrument for recording and counting votes. The voting machine itself is generally positioned in a booth, often closed off by a curtain to assure secrecy for the voter. did not materialize ma·te·ri·al·ize v. ma·te·ri·al·ized, ma·te·ri·al·iz·ing, ma·te·ri·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To cause to become real or actual: By building the house, we materialized a dream. , many people agree that reform is needed in the electoral process. Looking Ahead As the President heads into a second term, among his top priorities will be ensuring a stable, democratic Iraq. Elections are expected there in January. Bush will also seek to extend his $1.9 trillion tax cuts. Other top issues on his agenda include reforming Social Security, increasing energy production at home, and loosening loosening /loo·sen·ing/ (loo´sen-ing) freeing from restraint or strictness. loosening of associations air pollution regulations. With the U.S. Congress solidly behind him (seep. 5), the President seems ready to continue the work he started four years ago. Whether he will be able to unite a sharply divided nation remains to be seen.
2004 Election Results
Total Electoral
Votes
Republican
MT 3
ID 4
NV 5
WY 3
UT 5
AZ 10
CO 9
NM 5
ND 3
SD 3
NE 5
KS 6
OK 7
TX 34
IA 7
MO 11
AR 6
LA 9
MS 6
IN 11
KY 8
TN 11
AL 9
OH 20
GA 15
FL 27
WV 5
VA 13
NC 15
SC 8
AK 3
Bush: 286
Total Electoral
Votes
Democrat
WA 11
OR 7
CA 55
MN 10
WI 10
IL 21
MI 17
PA 21
NY 31
VT 3
NH 4
ME 4
MA 12
RI 4
CT 7
NJ 15
DE 3
MD 10
DC 3
HI 4
Kerry: 252
Note: Alaska and Hawaii are not drawn to scale
or placed in their geographic positions.
Student Vote The kids have spoken! The results of the Scholastic student poll for President are in. More than 500,000 kids voted--by paper and online. Like the rest of the nation, student voters chose George W. Bush as their next President. Scholastic readers have voted in the kids' poll every election year since 1940 and have only been wrong twice. KERRY 46.7% BUSH 52.4% OTHER .9% Congress On Election Day, Republicans strengthened their control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. In the Senate, they picked up as many as four seats, which would give them a 55-44 majority (with I independent). The defeat of Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota South Dakota (dəkō`tə), state in the N central United States. It is bordered by North Dakota (N), Minnesota and Iowa (E), Nebraska (S), and Wyoming and Montana (W). , by former Representative John Thune John Randolph Thune (born January 7, 1961) is the junior Republican U.S. Senator from the state of South Dakota. Early life and family Thune was born in Pierre, South Dakota to Yvonne Patricia Bodine and Harold Richard Thune; his paternal grandfather was an immigrant , was a major blow for Democrats. But Illinois's new Democratic Senator, Barack Obama (pictured at right), is a rising star for his party. He became only the third African-American Senator since Reconstruction. Republicans also increased their margin in the House. The party was aided by the redrawing of congressional districts Noun 1. congressional district - a territorial division of a state; entitled to elect one member to the United States House of Representatives district, territorial dominion, territory, dominion - a region marked off for administrative or other purposes in Texas, which cost four incumbent Democrats their seats. Governors Eleven states elected Governors this fall. There were few surprises, and no significant shift between Democrats and Republicans. Voters in gubernatorial gu·ber·na·to·ri·al adj. Of or relating to a governor. [From Latin gubern races seemed more concerned with local rather than national issues. As JS went to press, the race in Washington between Republican Dino Rossi Dino Rossi (born October 15, 1959 in Seattle, Washington, U.S.) is a former Washington State Senator and Republican nominee for Governor of Washington in the 2004 election, one of the closest elections in state history. and Democrat Christine Gregoire Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire (born March 24, 1947) is the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of Washington. Gregoire's election to the office in 2004 was notable for her historically slim margin of victory over Republican Dino Rossi, who had appeared to defeat Gregoire on was too close to call. DELAWARE: Ruth Ann Minner Democrat INDIANA: Mitch Daniels Republican MISSOURI: Matt Blunt Republican MONTANA: Brian Schweitzer Democrat NEW HAMPSHIRE: John Lynch Democrat NORTH CAROLINA: Mike Easley Democrat NORTH DAKOTA: John Hoeven Republican UTAH: Jon Huntsman Republican VERMONT: Jim Douglas Republican WASHINGTON: Too close to call. * WEST VIRGINIA: Joe Manchin Democrat 2004 Totals: 28 Republicans, 21 Democrats, I undeclared * NEWS SPECIAL * OBJECTIVE Students should understand * Republican President George W. Bush won re-election on November 2, 2004, defeating Democratic Senator John E Kerry. * TEACHING STRATEGY Ask students what they learned about the election process; what surprised them; what changes, if any, need to be made. * BACKGROUND Senator Kerry did not concede con·cede v. con·ced·ed, con·ced·ing, con·cedes v.tr. 1. To acknowledge, often reluctantly, as being true, just, or proper; admit. See Synonyms at acknowledge. 2. the election until mid-morning after Election Day. Sources reported that Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards  This article or section contains information about one or more candidates in an upcoming or ongoing election.Content may change as the election approaches. had counseled Kerry to wait until all votes were counted in the battleground state of Ohio, a process that could have delayed an official outcome for weeks. Kerry decided the last uncounted votes could not overcome the President's lead there, and instead called to concede. Sources report that the Senator told the President that the country needed to unite after such a divisive di·vi·sive adj. Creating dissension or discord. di·vi  sive·ly adv.di·vi election. * CRITICAL THINKING MAKING PREDICTIONS: What goals will President Bush seek to achieve during his second term? (Answers will vary, but students may mention any of the President's pledges about economic and job growth and rebuilding Iraq.) NOTING DETAILS: Which swing states (states where the outcome is uncertain) were crucial to President Bush's victory? (Ohio and Florida were crucial to President Bush's victory this year. Senator Kerry won the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, but those wins still left him short of the electoral votes needed to clinch Clinch, river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, formed by the junction of two forks in SW Va., and flowing generally SW across E Tenn. to the Tennessee River at Kingston. the election.) * ACTIVITY 2000 AND 2004: Have students compare and contrast the most recent presidential elections. Students should create a chart detailing how each state voted, the changes in the Electoral College electoral college, in U.S. government, the body of electors that chooses the president and vice president. The Constitution, in Article 2, Section 1, provides: "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, , the total number of votes cast and how they were counted, and the candidates and issues related to each contest. STANDARDS SOCIAL STUDIES, GRADES 5-8 * Civic ideals and practices: How the national electorate went to the polls on November 2 to elect national and local leaders. * Individuals, groups, and institutions: How the political campaigns of presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial candidates culminated on November 2. RESOURCES * Schlesinger, Arthur, Elections of 1789 and 1792 (Mason Crest Pub., 2003). Grades 7-8. * Boller, Paul F., Presidential Campaigns: From George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford University Press, 2004). Grade 8. GROLIER WEB SITE KEY TERM * Presidential elections WEB SITES * Election 2004 www.c-span.org/homepage.asp * White House www.whitehouse.gov QUICK QUIZ A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which the players (as individuals or in teams) attempt to answer questions correctly. Quizzes are also brief assessments used in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, and/or skills. NEWS: AFGHANS VOTE, FLU VACCINE The flu vaccine is a vaccine to protect against the highly variable influenza virus. The annual flu kills an estimated 36,000 people in the United States. SHORTAGE, PAGE 6 * Use a word from the list to correctly complete each sentence. 29, 48, 52, Al Qaeda, American Medical Association American Medical Association (AMA), professional physicians' organization (founded 1847). Its goals are to protect the interests of American physicians, advance public health, and support the growth of medical science. , Mehria Azizi, Cabinet, Centers for Disease Control, half, judicial, Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (born April 28, 1937, Tikrit, Iraq—died Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad) President of Iraq (1979–2003). He joined the Ba'th Party in 1957. Following participation in a failed attempt to assassinate Iraqi Pres. , Harold Karzai, parliamentary, Taliban, United Nations, vice-presidential 1. Interim President -- won Afghanistan's presidential election last month. 2. Afghans were relieved that the election was not disrupted by -- violence. 3. Afghanistan will hold its -- elections in April 2005. 4. Last summer, about -- million doses of the U.S. flu vaccine were found to be unsafe for use. 5. The -- advises that infants, senior citizens, and people with chronic medical problems should be vaccinated against the flu this fall. ANSWERS 1. Harold Karzai 2. Taliban 3. parliamentary 4. 48 5. Centers for Disease Control |
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