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Kerry concedes defeat
Posted Wed, 03 Nov 2004
Democrat John Kerry ended the journey of a lifetime on Wednesday, conceding defeat to President George W. Bush after concluding he could no longer win the bitterly divisive election.
Kerry, whose campaign theme song was "No Surrender", concluded he could not win the critical state of Ohio and called the president on Wednesday morning, a campaign source said.
The Democratic challenger, tipped as presidential material for decades, was expected to make a formal statement at 1pm (1800 GMT), urging the country to heal its divisions after a toxic election campaign.
Bush's campaign had already declared victory, after insisting he had won the Midwestern state of Ohio, saying the president had a "statistically insurmountable" lead of 130 000 votes.
Democrats, however, insisted overnight that at least 250 000 provisional or absentee ballots remained uncounted, making it impossible to declare a definitive result.
Situation seen as hopeless
But after intense discussion between Kerry and top aides, the Democratic challenger decided the position was hopeless.
Kerry's advisors met to lay out the veteran senator's options through the night on Wednesday, after clamping down a news blackout just before 3am.
He remained cloistered in his swish Boston home on Wednesday, surrounded by his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and daughters Vanessa and Alexandra.
Controversy erupts
Controversy erupted after the Kerry campaign rejected calls by two television networks which handed the decisive Midwestern state to Bush.
"It's been a long night. But we've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night," Kerry's vice presidential running mate, John Edwards, told cheering supporters in central Boston, who had been hoping to celebrate a Kerry victory.
"Tonight, John and I are so proud of all of you who are here with us and all of you across the country who have stood with us in this campaign," said Edwards, pumping his fist in the air.
"John Kerry and I made a promise to the American people that in this election every vote would count, and every vote would be counted.
Thanks to voters
"Tonight we are keeping our word, and we will fight for every vote. You deserve no less. Thank you," he said to a roar of approval from the crowd.
Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement that 250 000 provisional ballots, cast but subject to verification of the voter's eligibility, remained to be counted.
"The vote count in Ohio has not been completed," Cahill said in a statement. "We believe when (it has), John Kerry will win Ohio."
Provisional ballots are cast by voters who are found to have some kind of problem with their registration and must be certified before they can be counted.
Kerry won crucial swing states
Kerry's campaign was cheered by his victories in the crucial swing states of Minnesota and Pennsylvania. But he lost the state of Florida, center of the 2000 vote count imbroglio which had to be resolved by the US Supreme Court, delaying the results by 36 days.
Aides said the veteran senator conducted 38 satellite television interviews through Monday afternoon and early evening, hoping to woo any remaining undecided voters to back his run for the White House.
He wound up his exhausting nearly two-year campaign with a little superstition, going to the same restaurant he has visited every Election Day and eating a dozen little-necked clams after casting his vote.
The mood in the Kerry camp had been buoyant at the start of the evening, after exit polls showed the veteran senator had put up a strong showing nationwide.
Some 10 000 supporters gathered in a downtown square hoping to celebrate a great victory but dribbled away even before Edwards's speech, many of them in despair.
AFP
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