Concession

Well, we still have to see what the final number of provisional ballots (number received, number valid, and how the numbers split) to decisively call Ohio for President Bush, but the numbers suggest a Bush margin that cannot be beaten. (Provisional ballots in 2000 were cast along the same lines as the state’s popular vote, suggesting that Kerry could never get enough votes out of the most optimistic numbers of to-be-counted provisional ballots to overcome the margins currently held by Bush.)

Unlike 2000, the underdog in the contested state (Kerry in Ohio now, Gore in Florida then) does not have the weight of the winning the national popular vote to put up a fight. As such, Kerry called the President to congratulate him on his win, despite strong urgings from Senator Edwards, a trial lawyer, to the contrary. Edwards wanted to stick it out and see the votes counted, which would have protracted the process of actually declaring a winner for at least 10 days. I guess Kerry did not want to see that happen and recognized the evidence to show his possibility of victory in Ohio very slim if not improbable.

Regardless of your stance in the election, 2004 turned out alright for the most part. Huge turnout, fewer reported voting fiascos (despite isolated issues and the hoards of electronic machines without paper trails), and a better-behaved media. No longer was each media outlet racing to call a state, and they even differed in their opinions on when and for whom to call a state (i.e. Nevada was called last night around 3 a.m. EST by CNN, but NBC would not call it because it would have put Bush over the top in their model). The exit polling data that initially threw everyone off needs to be scrutinized because there was heavy skewing happening. If intentional or not, it sent ripples through the Bush campaign, my uncle undoubtedly saying, “Hold on. Wait a minute. Something’s not right here.”

Fun stuff.

Some of the surprises that emerged: GOP gains in the Senate and Governorships. Loss of Senator Daschle’s seat to John Thune in South Dakota is huge. This is the first time a sitting Minorite Leader was beaten in a reelection bid. This puts our esteemed Harry Reid (who won his bid over Richard Ziser handily by 30%) in line to become the Minority Leader in the Senate (he is currently the Whip, a second in command sort of post). This will bring a great deal of clout, I believe, to Nevada on issues like Yucca Mountain, funding of initiatives, and more national attention in general if he is elected by his Democratic peers to the position.