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| Bush claims victory, but US presidency caught in new stalemate |
| 2004-11-03 |
| President George W. Bush's campaign claimed a decisive victory in the race for the White House but Democratic challenger John Kerry refused to concede leaving the US election snared in an embarrassing stalemate for the second time in four years. After a marathon campaign dominated by the war on terror and the invasion of Iraq, Republicans and Democrats battled over the result in the crucial state of Ohio and no official winner was immediately declared. "We are convinced that President Bush has won re-election with at least 286 Electoral College votes," Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff told a Republican campaign victory rally in Washington. The aide called it a "decisive margin" of victory, more than 3.5 million votes ahead of Kerry. "In this election, President Bush received more votes than any presidential candidate in our country's history." Card said Wednesday that Bush had a lead of 140,000 votes in Ohio which was "statistically insurmountable." Other sources gave a different tally. Kerry's running-mate John Edwards vowed, "We will fight for every vote." Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said more than 250,000 votes remained to be counted in Ohio. "We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio." Bush campaign communications director Nicolle Devenish called the refusal to concede "delusional". |
| Posted by:Fred |