Kerry stands tall in defeat

‘‘I think you were an admirable, worthy opponent,’’ Bush told Kerry, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan. ‘‘You waged one tough campaign. I hope you are proud of the effort you put in. You should be.’’ He said Bush believes he won a mandate in the election, in which the President won the popular vote by about 3.5 million votes.

Kerry had been pinning his hopes on as-yet-uncounted provisional ballots, which voters can cast if there is some question about their eligibility to vote when they appear at a polling station. “In America, it is vital that every vote count, and that every vote be counted. But 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. But it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, which they will be, there won’t be enough outstanding votes for us to be able to win Ohio,” Kerry said in his speech after conceding defeat.

After Kerry phoned with his concession, Bush hugged staff members, then visited Vice-President Dick Cheney and they congratulated each other.

Kerry, however, told the President he must bring the country together. “We had a good conversation, and we talked about the danger of division in our country and the need for finding the common ground, coming together. Today, I hope that we can begin the healing.”

Bush and his aides have already signalled that the Republican President will seek to bring the divided country together in his second term, something Kerry stressed in his speech repeatedly.

“We are required now to work together for the good of our country. In the days ahead, we must find common cause. We must join in common effort, without remorse or recrimination, without anger or rancor. America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion. I hope President Bush will advance those values in the coming years,” the Senator said.

“I pledge to do my part to try to bridge the partisan divide. I know this is a difficult time for my supporters, but I ask them, all of you, to join me in doing that. Now, more than ever, with our soldiers in harm’s way, we must stand together and succeed in Iraq and win the war on terror.”