Hello and welcome to another edition of the presidential election series. Today, we’ll be discussing the Election of 2004; George W. Bush has got a major war on his hands following a shocking incident mere months into his term and his also got a tough Democratic challenger in the upcoming election to contend with.
President Bush & 9/11
President George W. Bush’s first few months in office saw him opposed federal funding for stem cell research and refused to support the Kyoto Protocol which planned on dealing with carbon emissions to help the environment.He was however onboard with ideas like drilling oil in Northeastern Alaska, passed the No Child Left Behind Act and signing the 2001 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act which along with the 2003 Job and Growth Tax Relief Act became the largest tax cuts in American History.
While some supported the president’s decisions, others found them to be problematic, it didn’t last long as Americans would all have a different opinion about President Bush following the events that took place on September 11th 2001 when men connected to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four planes with two of them crashing into the World Trade Center located in New York, while one crashed into the Pentagon located in Washington while the last plane ended up crashing into an open field in Pennsylvania as the passengers on that plane recaptured control and prevented it from heading to it’s intended target of Washington DC.
This resulted in thousands of injuries and almost 3,000 people dying not to mention policemen and firefighters who went out to help and look for survivors in New York; It also led to health problems to those who breathed in the materials that made up the World Trade Center and it also lead a period of fear, uncertainty and paranoia in the United States…That can still be felt today.
President Bush famously went to New York not long after the attacks where he gives a short but famous speech which helped in his approval numbers, in fact by the end of his first year as commander-in-chief his numbers reached to 90% which is the highest for any U.S. President on their first year in office since Harry Truman, JFK and Ronald Reagan.
The War on Terror
In the wake of the 9/11 Attacks, Bush makes a speech to Congress which is seen as the opening salvo for what would be American’s War on Terror where there would no distinction between the terrorists and those who gave them refuge.
Much like his father when he was president, George Bush was going to have his presidency be centered mainly around foreign policy and on October 7th, he began airstrikes on Afghanistan which was harboring the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden and other members of the terrorist group thanks to the Tailban.
Although U.S. forces allied by the United Kingdom were successful in overthrowning the Tailban, they were unsuccessful in capturing Bin Laden who escaped to Pakistan; Furthermore, plans to invade Iraq to overthrown Saddam Hussein over claims of Weapons of Mass Destructionwere criticized for a lack of evidence.
Regardless, President Bush sent troops to Iraq and defeated Saddam’s forces within three week and captured Hussein on December 13th 2003 where he was trialed convicted and later executed via hanging. This plus overwleming support within the Republican Party allowed Bush and Dick Cheney to get re-nominated without opposition.
Democratic Presidential Candidates
Some at first presumed that former Vice President, Al Gore would make a third run for the presidency, but Gore refused to run for president following Bush’s approval numbers increasing in the wake of the 9/11 Attacks and this led to a host of candidates throwing their names in the race but only three really stood out: John Kerry, John Edwards and Howard Dean.
Kerry, was a moderate Senator from Massachusetts and War Hero who served during the Vietnam War and received both the Bronze and Sliver Stars while also getting three Purple Heart Medals during his service. Edwards was a fresh faced Senator from North Carolina who looked like future VP or president by many in the party and Dean was the former Governor of Vermont who leaned more to the left than the others and used the internet to help engage young people to support his cause.
Dean looked like the one to beat going into the Iowa Caucus and by the time the results came in he was indeed defeated as he came in third and then went on to lose the primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire before dropping out of the race. John Kerry soon became the Democrats Nominee for President with John Edwards as his running mate.
Political Dirty Tricks
Alongside issues like the economy and healthcare, foreign policy became the biggest issues of this election with Kerry’s campaign team hyping up his war hero status while also criticizing Bush’s handling on a number of things and in particular the Invasion of Iraq, with the Senator believing it should’ve been done with more diplomacy.
Similar to what his father did back in 1988, George W. Bush attempted to paint his opponent as another Northeastern liberal and an untrustworthy person to lead the nation which was demonsrated through the president’s rhetoric and attack ads that portray Kerry as a flip-flopper on issues like his support of a gas tax and the invasion of Iraq.
Kerry is also getting criticized for his military service with former soldiers appearing in attack ads attempting to downplay the senator’s achievements…however it’s soon uncovered that these soldiers who were a part of a group called ‘Veterans For Truth’ were paid by Republicans connected to the Bush Adminsration including Bush’s senior advisor and campaign strategist, Karl Rove.
Presidential Debates and The October Surprise
While the VP debate saw news networks debate over who won between Cheney and Edwards, the first presidential debate saw Kerry emerge with a much needed victory which was also helped due to the president expressing frustration on his face throughout the debate.
The second debate could be seen as a draw, however the third debate could be seen as a win for Bush as the issue of same sex-marriage came up and when a question came up about homosexuality being a choice at the third debate, Kerry tried to show hyprocrisy within the Bush Adminsration as they were trying to make an amendment banning gay marriage while at the same time one of Dick Cheney’s daughters was a lesbian…This strategy ended up backfiring on Kerry.
Things took a sudden turn for the best for President Bush when a videotape showing Osama Bin Laden taking responsiblity for the 9/11 Attacks appeared four days before the election on the TV network, Al Jazeera with the video also showing Bin Laden ridiculing Bush for his anti-terrorism efforts and all this helped to increase the president’s lead in the polls by a few points right up to election day.
The Results
George W. Bush narrowly wins re-election with Bush carrying 31 states to get 286 electoral votes and received 50.7% of the popular vote while John Kerry won 19 states and D.C. to get 251 electoral votes and received 48.3% of the popular vote…..Also a random elector in Minnesota casted their vote for John Edwards.
Bush ended up winning the smallest margin of victory for any re-elected preisdent with about 3 million votes separated the two in terms of the popular vote.
As of the time of this article, George W. Bush remains the last Republican candidate to have beaten his Democratic challenger in the popular vote and his also the last Republican President to be re-elected to a second term…Again of the timing of this article.