Leave it to our British "cousins" across the Big Pond for the nice long view on our election:
President George W Bush pledged to unite the nation in his second term in office yesterday after his Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry conceded defeat following a dramatic climax to one of the more bruising campaigns in American history.
"America has spoken," Mr Bush told ecstatic campaign workers near the White House. "There is no limit to the greatness of America."
Pledging to seek the support of those who voted for his defeated rival, Mr Bush sought to put the acrimony of the past year behind him as he revelled in unquestionably his greatest triumph.
Aides said he felt jubilant that after his victory by 51 to 49 per cent of the popular vote he at last had an indisputable mandate to govern.
Four years ago he won his first term amid bitter wrangling after losing the popular vote by 500,000.
His victory also healed a 12-year-old familial wound: Mr Bush has never forgotten the pain of his father's defeat by Bill Clinton in 1992 after only one term in office.
Mr Bush told his supporters that he felt "humbled by the outpouring of support" for his candidacy.
With Mr Kerry's supporters in mind, he said: "I will need your support and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust.
"A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation. We have one country, one constitution, and one future that binds us.
"And when we come together, and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."
[...]
With Mr Kerry's supporters in mind, he said: "I will need your support and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust.
"A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation. We have one country, one constitution, and one future that binds us.
"And when we come together, and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."
[...]
But for Democrats, his words would ring hollow. In 2000 he said he would be a "uniter not a divider" and then pursued a single-minded agenda of conservative issues.
[The poor Brits!
Even the relatively conservative Daily Telegraph has to get in a dig for Liberalism.
President Bush tried his d*mndest to heal the partisan rift in the Beltway, but the Dims just wouldn't let him.
It's past time for them to do some reaching across the aisle.--Jen]
For Mr Kerry it was the end not just of an impassioned nine-month campaign but of a lifelong ambition to gain the White House. For two heady hours on Tuesday night exit polls DNC-planted push "polls" suggested he would defeat Mr Bush.
[Thank God I was busy doing something else and wasn't one of the hapless [Lefty] bloggers who fell for this last-minute Democrat trick!--J.T.]
[...]
At dawn yesterday there was still a chance that the election would follow the acrimonious route of the poll in 2000 when disputes in Florida ended in the Supreme Court. After an agonising night with the results trickling in, all hinged on the result in Ohio, which for months had been seen as the key battleground. With most of the votes there counted Mr Bush was ahead by about 130,000.
Victory in Ohio would give him the majority of seats he needed in the electoral college. But Democrats had vowed to contest any remotely close results and at 2.30am Mr Edwards said there would be no concession that night, hinting at legal challenges.
For a few hours the prospect loomed of a post-election limbo, as it emerged that the Democrats were considering insisting on counting provisional ballots, which are given to voters who move house. This could have taken 12 days.
[...]
But it soon became clear that it was all but statistically impossible for him [Kerry] to make up the shortfall by the outstanding provisional ballots. In the middle of the morning Mr Kerry made his three-minute telephone call to Mr Bush to concede. The president told him that he was an "admirable worthy opponent" who should be proud of the campaign he had run, the White House said.
[I want to give credit where it's due: John Kerry is a bigger person and a more gracious loser than Algore ever thought about being and thank God for it!
I don't think America could have survived another recount like 2000 and I'm grateful to the Kerry/Edwards team that they chose not to draw this out!
Also, I'd like to send a big shout out to my fellow citizens in Ohio and Florida, for bringing Bush home with their smooth voting!--Jen]
For Republicans there was much to celebrate. As well as retaining the White House, they picked up at least three more seats in the Senate,
[Make that 6, for a net gain of 4, but now Lincoln Chaffee is threatening to do a "Jim Jeffords!"]
entrenching their control on Capitol Hill. An added boost was the defeat of Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader in the Senate.
[Oh, yeah!
The defeat of Tiny Tom was almost as sweet as President Bush's win...!
I gave money to John Thune's campaign to help make this happen and it was some of the best money I've spent this year.
And yet, in some dark, twisted way, I think I'm gonna miss Tom...--Jen]
Mr Bush now has the chance to pursue the war in Iraq with renewed vigour as well as his conservative economic agenda of tax cuts.
Tony Blair called Mr Bush to congratulate him.
"President Bush's re-election comes at a critical time," he said last night.
"A world that is fractured, divided and uncertain must be brought together to fight global terrorism."
Stockmarkets in Britain and America surged as investors welcomed a second term for Mr Bush.
Wall Street analysts expressed relief that uncertainty had been removed, betting that tax cuts and other business-friendly policies would continue.
The Dow Jones index rose 101.30 points to close at 10137.00. In London, the FTSE 100 index closed at its highest level since June 2002, up 25.3 points at 4,718.5.
I was in bad shape yesterday from staying up so late on Election Night and with the change of seasons here in Dallas and the stress, I've been trying to get a cold, but all I could think of was the Doxology:
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
This victory is so sweet for all of us who love and support President Bush and his fine Administration.
It healed the wounds of Election Recount 2000 and put the cherry on the sundae of 4 years of hard work for Bushies like me!
To the other almost 60,000,000 Americans who joined me on Tuesday in standing with President Bush, thank you and God bless you!
The republic is saved once again.
To God be the glory!
