Bush Wins a Second Term, Outlines Ambitious Goals

After a difficult White House campaign and an outcome that hung briefly on a single state, President Bush accepted Sen. John F. Kerry’s concession Wednesday, outlining an extensive second-term agenda while extending a hand to his political opponents.

Kerry, acknowledging he would fall short in the pivotal state of Ohio, called Bush at midmorning to cede the fight, reaching him in the Oval Office. Hours later, the president strode into a flag-filled rally to the sound of “Hail to the Chief” -- a flourish he rarely uses -- to lay claim to another four years in the White House.

Citing the high turnout in Tuesday’s election, Bush termed the 51% of the national popular vote a “historic victory,” and called for changes to Social Security, a revision of the federal tax code and continued efforts “to help the emerging democracies of Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Addressing Kerry supporters, Bush looked directly into the television cameras and said, “A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation.”

“To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it,” said Bush, who became the first presidential candidate to win more than 50% of the popular vote since his father in 1988. “I will do all I can do to deserve your trust.”

About an hour earlier, in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall, Kerry sounded his own note of reconciliation, a calming coda to an election marked by great vitriol.

“America is in need of unity,” said Kerry, his voice growing thick as he thanked his family, staff and supporters. “I hope President Bush will advance those values in coming years. I pledge to do my part to bridge the partisan divide.”

Kerry’s running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, sounded a more confrontational tone in his introduction of Kerry, as if delivering the first speech of the 2008 campaign.

“The battle rages on,” a sober Edwards told the audience. Then, reprising the signature line of his stump speech, he vowed to “keep marching toward one America, and not stop until we get there.”

But the political terrain has grown steeper for Democrats.

In Washington, Republicans celebrated gains in the Senate, where they picked up four seats, and the House, where they added at least four seats, expanding their majority in both chambers.

“President Bush will not have a lonely victory, but instead will have more teammates in the United States Senate who will work with him,” said Sen. George Allen of Virginia, who led the GOP’s Senate campaign effort.

The results of Tuesday’s election starkly outlined the nation’s political divide, in red and blue relief. Nationwide, Bush led Kerry by 3.5 million votes, with 99% of precincts reporting.

The president carried 29 states with 274 electoral votes, four more than the number needed to win the White House. Victories in Iowa and New Mexico, where he was leading but the vote count was not final, would give him 286. Kerry won 19 states and the District of Columbia, for 252 electoral votes.

States that were red for Republican or blue for Democratic in 2000 stayed that way -- with the exceptions of New Hampshire, which Bush won four years ago but which Kerry nabbed Tuesday; and most likely Iowa and New Mexico, both of which supported Al Gore four years ago.

Polarization appeared to drive turnout, boosting the vote to the highest level since 1968, another campaign fought against the backdrop of a controversial war. Just about 120 million people cast ballots Tuesday, or 59.5% of the voting-age population. Christian conservatives and younger voters turned out in particularly high numbers.

After months of rancor, feelings were still raw Wednesday as the results -- joyous to some, crushing to others -- began settling in.

“I see this election as clearly decisive for the Republicans,” said a delighted Robert Hayworth, 36, who works in the financial service industry in Seattle. “It’s going to be smooth sailing for their agenda at least for a while.”

In Boston, 18-year-old Jessica Posner was among about 20 students who marched outside Faneuil Hall, urging Kerry not to give up. She called the idea of a second Bush term “terrifying.”

“My generation will be dealing with his war, fighting his war, paying the debt that he racks up,” she said.

Like the red-blue geography, the breakdown of the balloting was also similar to four years ago. Bush again carried the vote among men, whites, rural residents and the more religious, while Kerry won the vote among minorities, city dwellers and the more secular, exit polls found.

The president improved his vote among several traditionally Democratic constituencies, including women, blacks, Latinos and Jews. But he won by building on his support among traditional GOP loyalists, as many were quick to note.

Religious conservative leaders served notice Wednesday that they expected Bush to make good on their hopes to limit abortion, appoint conservative federal judges and hold the line on gay marriage.

“Now that value voters have delivered for George Bush, he must deliver for their values,” said the Rev. James Kennedy, president of Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which has strongly opposed same-sex marriage.

Bush’s priorities should include “the defense of innocent unborn human life, the protection of marriage, and the nomination and confirmation of federal judges who will interpret the Constitution, not make law from the bench,” Kennedy said.

Others also cited gay marriage as a key issue that drove conservatives to the polls.

“Clearly, the supporters of traditional marriage helped President Bush down the aisle to a second term,” said Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, a conservative lobbying group. He referred to 11 statewide ballot measures opposing gay marriage that passed Tuesday, including one in Ohio.

For several hours on election night and early Wednesday, the Buckeye State was the center of the political world, in the way Florida was four years ago.

With 20 electoral votes, the state appeared to hold the balance in the White House contest, with the outcome resting on approximately 150,000 provisional ballots that had been laid aside for later tabulation.

The mood in the Bush and Kerry camps moved in opposite directions throughout a tense evening.

One longtime friend of Kerry’s said the senator was optimistic heading into Tuesday’s election, energized by the jubilation of big crowds and sensing that he had finally found his voice as a candidate. When early exit polls showed him leading in several key states, Kerry and his aides were buoyant. Strategists for Bush called key supporters around the country, urging them not to panic.

Spirits began sinking among Kerry advisors as the night passed and the Bush vote mounted. With the race narrowed to Ohio, strategists on both sides stayed up until almost dawn, assessing their options. Bush and Kerry had both gone to bed.

The senator remained in seclusion Wednesday morning in his mansion on Beacon Hill. Bush showed up for work at the White House.

As more information arrived from Ohio, Kerry decided he did not want to put the country through lengthy litigation, his campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, later told reporters. Bush was ahead in the state by about 136,000 votes, making it virtually impossible for Kerry to catch up.

“His whole premise over the course of this campaign was that we needed to find ways to bring this country together,” Cahill said. “He immediately just decided that in order to go forward in a time of war, it was not something he wanted to put the country through.”

Kerry called the president. Bush later described their conversation as “very gracious.”

When the Democrat’s motorcade slowly rolled up to Faneuil Hall, the plaza filled with cheers and applause as people perched on ledges to catch a glimpse of the candidate.

Kerry spoke for 15 minutes, frequently interrupted by applause and several standing ovations. His tone was even, if occasionally rueful. Speaking of his campaign team, Kerry said, “I wish -- you don’t know how much -- they could have brought this race home for you.”

But he said, “The outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process.

“I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail,” he said. “But it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, there won’t be enough outstanding votes for us to be able to win Ohio. And therefore, we cannot win this election.”

Kerry restated familiar campaign themes, calling for more jobs, expanded healthcare coverage, greater environmental protections, rebuilding foreign alliances and for stepping up scientific exploration. But rather than faulting Bush, Kerry ended on a positive note.

“I believe all of this will happen -- and sooner rather than what we may think -- because we’re America, and America always moves forward,” he said.

Soon after, Bush’s motorcade left the White House for the three-block ride to the Ronald Reagan Building. Thousands of supporters lining Pennsylvania Avenue waved Bush-Cheney ’04 signs as he passed.

At his final campaign rally, Bush was introduced by Vice President Dick Cheney, who hailed his reelection as a “broad nationwide victory.” The president offered “a clear agenda for this nation’s future and the nation responded by giving him a mandate,” Cheney said.

Bush stepped to the microphone, looking tired but relieved.

“We had a long night,” he said with a smile, “and a great night.”

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Times staff writers Edwin Chen, Michael Finnegan, Matea Gold, Maria L. La Ganga and Larry Stammer contributed to this report.