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United States Presidential Election, 2004

The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Democratic Party candidate Joe Lieberman, the senior U.S. Senator from Connecticut, defeated Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush. Domestic issues-particularly immigration and Social Security reform-were the main themes of the campaign.

Background

George W. Bush won the presidency in 2000 after the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore remanded the case to the Florida Supreme Court, which declared there was not sufficient time to hold a recount without violating the U.S. Constitution.
Bush had won on a theme of “Compassionate conservatism” which he carried through his term as President. Among his domestic initiatives were the No Child Left Behind Act, the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives, H. R. 4664, far-reaching legislation to put the National Science Foundation (NSF) on a track to double its budget over five years and to create new mathematics and scienceeducation initiatives at both the pre-college and undergraduate level, environmental polices such as the Healthy Forests Initiative and the more controversial Clear Skies Initiative, and opposition to embryonic stem cell research and the Kyoto Protocol. The Bush administration also promoted a policy of abstinence only sex education, denying federal funding for any other type of safe/modern sexual health education. During his term in office, Bush sought and obtained Congressional approval for three major tax cuts.

Just eight months into his presidency, President Bush announced that a major terrorist plot had been foiled following the death of Osama bin Laden in an airstrike earlier in the year. The plot involved the hijacking of several airliners and flying them into major targets within the United States. Among these would have been the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the White House, the Trans-America Building in San Francisco, and the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois. In October, the Bush administration responded to the threat with a series of air strikes aimed at destroying terrorist training camps in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. With the support of the CIA, the Northern Alliance resistance movement was able to take control of Kabul in early 2002, forcing the Taliban into the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. A contingent of U.S. troops joined a NATO peacekeeping force in securing most of the country, effectively ending Taliban rule.

Despite pressure from some in his party to turn his attention towards Iraq, Bush chose to continue the Clinton-era policy of containment. In 2003, Bush authorized heavy air strikes on Baghdad, acting on intelligence which suggested that Iraq was pursuing a program of weapons of mass destruction. Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay Hussein, were killed in the initial air attack.
Republican Nomination
Despite several bipartisan successes on domestic policy and support for the NATO mission in Afghanistan, Bush faced some strong early opposition in the Republican primaries, mostly from Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, an opponent of Bush's tax cuts, drilling in ANWR, and much of Bush's social agenda. There was also some dissatisfaction from conservative activists over Bush’s continuing message of “Compassionate Conservatism.” Nevertheless, Bush easily won the nomination.
Democratic Nomination



Democratic candidates
Before the primaries

By summer of 2003, Howard Dean had become the apparent front runner for the Democratic nomination, performing strongly in most polls and leading the pack with the largest campaign war chest. Dean's strength as a fund raiser was attributed mainly to his embrace of the Internet for campaigning. The majority of his donations came from individual supporters, who became known as Deanites, or, more commonly, Deaniacs. Generally regarded as a pragmatic centrist during his time as governor, Dean emerged during his presidential campaign as a left-wing populist, denouncing the policies of the Bush administration as well as fellow Democrats, who, in his view, failed to strongly oppose them. While Dean campaigned as a populist, this allowed Lieberman, a liberal on most social issues, to campaign from the middle. In sheer numbers, Kerry had fewer endorsements than Howard Dean, who was far ahead in the superdelegate race going into the Iowa caucuses in January 2004, although Kerry led the endorsement race in Iowa, New Hampshire, Arizona, South Carolina, New Mexico and Nevada. Kerry's main perceived weakness was in his neighboring state of New Hampshire and nearly all national polls. Most other states did not have updated polling numbers to give an accurate placing for the Kerry campaign before Iowa. Heading into the primaries, Kerry's campaign was largely seen as in trouble, particularly after he fired campaign manager Jim Jordan. As a result, Kerry was never able to sufficiently recover.
Super Tuesday and the Democratic Convention
As the other candidates dropped out of the race following Kerry’s losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, John Edwards emerged as the only serious challenger to Lieberman. In March's Super Tuesday, Lieberman won decisive victories in the California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island primaries and the Minnesota caucuses. Dean, despite having withdrawn from the race two weeks earlier, won his home state of Vermont. Edwards finished only slightly behind Lieberman in Georgia, but, failing to win a single state other than South Carolina, chose to withdraw from the presidential race.
On July 6, Joe Lieberman selected John Edwards as his running mate, shortly before the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, held later that month.
Campaign Issues
Bush attempted to redefine his “Compassionate conservatism” message to appeal more to traditional Republicans on social issues, portraying Lieberman as a typical tax-and-spend liberal. During August and September 2004, there was an intense focus on events that occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Bush was accused of failing to fulfill his required service in the Texas Air National Guard. However, the focus quickly shifted to the conduct of CBS News after they aired a segment on 60 Minutes Wednesday introducing what became known as the Killian documents. Serious doubts about the documents' authenticity quickly emerged, leading CBS to appoint a review panel that eventually resulted in the firing of the news producer and other significant staffing changes. Lieberman, in return, was criticized by social conservatives for voting no on a constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.

Election Results
In the end, Lieberman scored a decisive, but by no means landslide, win over Bush by 51% compared to Bush’s 49%, making Lieberman the first Jewish President-Elect of the United States.
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Coming up: Lieberman's first term and the 2008 election. Ideas and comments are welcome!

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