Kerry concedes election to Bush

[Maverick]

Kerry called Bush and conceeded the election to him.

What are your reactions? Should Kerry have continued fighting until the votes were counted? Or was it better that he conceeded to Bush?

[droskey]

I think that Kerry did the right thing in conceding the election. There wasn't much of a chance that he was going to get Ohio. Also, Bush won the popular vote. That adds legitimacy to his win and it would've been a bad idea for Kerry to fight it too much.

The results are much clearer than they were in 2000. Bush is the winner. But the US is still hotly divided. If you look at the senate and congressional races, a good number of conservatives were elected or put back in office. So Bush again has a republican congress. That bothers me quite a bit. I didn't think that the U.S. was becoming so conservative. It seems like people are less concerned about foreign policy and the economy than they are about perceived threats from terrorists and about cultural issues like gay marriage.

[vertigo]

From that reuters article linked to by Maverick:

But Bush's argument that he could keep America safe after the September 11, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York, and his criticism of Kerry as an ineffective and flip-flopping leader, resonated with enough voters to put him on the verge of a win.

This is exactly how I see it. People want to feel safe. I don't think John Kerry did enough in that regard.

[Filter]

Maverick said:

Kerry called Bush and conceeded the election to him.
What are your reactions?

I'm over it already. We have to live with the reality that people have a different perspective than we do - and they breed. A lot!!

What blows my mind is how anyone over 18 would lag at the opportunity to vote. Me, I've had a good life, no children to be conscripted and I can no longer be recalled into the military myself. My vote went to Kerry, even though Bush would have been a more self-serving vote for me at this point in life.

[EvenThen]

I have respect for John Kerry because he conceded and didn't put our nation through hell for his own sense of pride.

[Theodore Doxford]

I do think your electoral system is a very bad one.
Mind you so is the UK's first past the post...
The fairest system imo is proportional representation...any of the variations of that system give a more accurate reflection of what the public have voted for.

So imo you should change to a european style democracy.....
What do you think?

[vertigo]

I have respect for John Kerry because he conceded and didn't put our nation through hell for his own sense of pride.

I think he's probably one of the most respectable liberals you will find.

[Theodore Doxford]

Oh, in answer to the thread
Kerry had no option other than concede to GW..

To contest the election result from his position of weakness would of been futile and embarassing for the US and for Kerry himself.

[Hilly]

I was shocked to see some voters lined up for up to three hours or more. Here in Ontario I've never had to wait more than ten minutes to vote. I have a great amount of respect for all those Americans who waited in line for so long.

It was good of Kerry to concede when it became apparent he lost, even before all the votes were counted. I had heard Bush would have made a victory speach regardless.

Looks like Bush was very successful getting all the "religious right" out to vote.

[AuntieSocial]

Hilly said:

I was shocked to see some voters lined up for up to three hours or more. Here in Ontario I've never had to wait more than ten minutes to vote. I have a great amount of respect for all those Americans who waited in line for so long.

I have a great amount of respect for those who waited to vote for Kerry (*grins*)

It was good of Kerry to concede when it became apparent he lost, even before all the votes were counted. I had heard Bush would have made a victory speach regardless.

I am still upset about this ... yes, it was the right thing ... BUT ...

Looks like Bush was very successful getting all the "religious right" out to vote.

Ummm, you mean the religious leaders used their pulpits illegally as political soapboxes, right?

So, there we have it ... America is desperately in need of equal access to education. What can I say?

*joins the chanting mob "FOUR MORE WARS ... FOUR MORE WARS"

Now that we have to deal with another four years of nullifications of civil rights and the murder of innocent civilians in sovereign nations ... I would like to post a link to a VERY important (in my opinion) book ... The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America. In view of the outcome of the election, the authors, editor and publisher of this book have decided to post the entire contents on the net for free reading. They are also giving permission to quote up to 3,000 words from the text (with appropriate credit) ...

The Fundamentals of Extremism

[pieisgood]

...thus neatly sums up my case against the existance of a god.

Well, look on the bright side. Only about 125,789,000 seconds left!!! (my friends and I are keeping a running tally)


Although Kerry did do the right thing, I'm not happy about it.