The extraordinary triumph of President George W. Bush

CNN/Time ^ | 11/8

[ambrose]

The extraordinary triumph of President George W. Bush

By NANCY GIBBS

Monday, November 8, 2004 Posted: 11:57 AM EST (1657 GMT)

Tuesday was the night the ghosts died in the Bush White House. There was the ghost of his last campaign, which Bush lost among voters but won in the court.

There was the ghost of his father's last campaign, when even winning a war was not enough to earn a second term. And then there was the ghost of Tuesday afternoon, when the entire Bush campaign team was haunted by the possibility that they had got it all wrong, as the first exit polls came in and nothing, but nothing, was going their way.

When it was finally over, the President who had become a radical champion of democracy's power to change the world became the living symbol of how it works. He made his decisions and moved on; the voters made theirs, in one of the most extraordinary displays of political passion seen in a generation.

About 120 million voted, 15 million more than in 2000, with Bush beating Senator John Kerry by about 51% to 48.5%. He became the first President since 1988 to win a majority of the popular vote, he gained seats in both houses of Congress, and for good measure, he knocked off not just the Democratic nominee but the party's Senate leader as well. The love-hate presidency of George W. Bush was neither an accident of ideology nor a product of these times.

Asked as he left the Crawford, Texas, polling station about the polarized feelings he inspires in voters, Bush replied, "I take that as a compliment. It means I'm willing to take a stand."

[Coldwater Creek]

I love George W. Bush, although I did not care for his father. I believe Divine intervention is what got him elected.

[EGPWS]

"I take that as a compliment. It means I'm willing to take a stand."

YEP, That's our President. Thank God!!!!

[Angry Enough]

He mortgaged his house, recast his team, renovated virtually every position he had ever taken and shook the grave dust off his suit several times before arriving at history's door. And then it closed in his face on a day when for a moment it had seemed to blow wide open.

To read this, you'd think the poor tad, who'd only run because of his deep and abiding love for his country and fellow American, was left a penniless waif.

[kipita]

and for the American people!

[The Great Yazoo]

CNN's piece is subtitled: "Tuesday was the night the ghosts died in the Bush White House. There was the ghost of his last campaign, which Bush lost among voters but won in the court," which, of course, is a lie.

But it certainly isn't the first lie CNN and its fellow-travelers and useful idiots have used to smear the president.

[PGalt]

Took an oath with his wife.

Took an oath with his nation.

Took an oath with his savior.

What more can you ask of any man?

[alnick]

In the end, polls suggested that the single issue that mattered most was not the Iraq war or terrorism, not the economy, but the questions of values that simmered beneath the headlines throughout the campaign.

As Krauthammer pointed out last night, that's not true.

The poll listed moral values as a general and then listed economic and war-related topics as specifics, i.e., Iraq, War on Terror, health care, jobs, etc.

If you added up the results for the war-related topics, you would have gotten a higher number the moral values number. The same with economy-related topics.

But let 'em stew over it. It will be entertaining to see the democrats throw the M word all over the place over the next four years.