CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-11-03

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Dan Rather and welcome to the

[0:02] CBS Evening News online edition. Just

[0:05] ahead, the president's big win. We'll

[0:08] look at who voted for him, why, and

[0:10] what's next on his to-do list. Also,

[0:13] John Kerry conceds and says a heartfelt

[0:15] thank you to his supporters and pleads

[0:17] for national unity. Also, those early

[0:20] exit polls, they're based on real

[0:22] information from real voters. So, why

[0:24] were they so often wrong? It's all

[0:27] starting now on the CBS Evening News

[0:29] online edition.

[0:32] For a time there, it looked like we were

[0:33] in for another long postelection battle

[0:35] for the White House. But today, when

[0:37] Ohio finally went into the Bush column,

[0:39] it was clear the president had scored a

[0:41] decisive re-election victory. With

[0:44] decisions now everywhere but Iowa, CBS

[0:47] News estimates the president won at

[0:48] least 30 states and 279 electoral votes.

[0:52] Senator Kerry, 19 states, 252 electoral

[0:55] votes. Mr. Bush also won more popular

[0:58] votes than any presidential candidate in

[1:00] history, three and a half million more

[1:02] than Senator Kerry. So, how did he do it

[1:05] in a nation so divided? In a race that

[1:07] seems so close, CBS's John Roberts

[1:10] begins our coverage.

[1:13] >> After another roller coaster night and

[1:15] an uncertain morning, President Bush

[1:17] this afternoon declared victory.

[1:19] >> We had a long night

[1:22] and a great night. While the margins in

[1:24] many states were tight, it was a

[1:26] significant win. The first presidential

[1:29] candidate to take more than 50% of the

[1:31] popular vote since his father did it in

[1:33] 1988.

[1:34] >> America has spoken,

[1:37] and I'm humbled by the trust

[1:39] and the confidence of my fellow

[1:42] citizens.

[1:43] >> The president's reelection playbook

[1:45] brought home a second term. His

[1:47] opposition to same-sex marriage,

[1:49] abortion, and destroying embryos for

[1:51] stem cell research made moral values a

[1:53] top issue, drawing out many Christian

[1:55] conservatives who stayed home in 2000.

[1:58] He increased his support among women

[2:00] concerned with family values and

[2:02] whittleled down the Democrats advantage

[2:04] with Hispanic voters. President Bush

[2:07] fielded the concession call from John

[2:09] Kerry just after 11 this morning. Mr.

[2:11] Bush told Carrie he was an admirable and

[2:14] worthy opponent and that he waged one

[2:16] tough campaign. When asked if the two

[2:19] could work together [music] after such a

[2:20] divisive campaign, the president's press

[2:22] secretary insisted absolutely. And Mr.

[2:25] Bush reached out to Democrats to put

[2:27] divisions behind them.

[2:28] >> To make this nation stronger and better,

[2:32] I will need your support

[2:35] and I will work to earn it. But with

[2:37] solid majorities in Congress, President

[2:39] Bush now has the legislative muscle to

[2:41] get his proposals on tax cuts,

[2:43] healthcare, and social security reform

[2:45] through without a lot of help from

[2:47] Democrats. Aids say the president sees

[2:49] his victory as a clear mandate and plans

[2:52] to move aggressively on his agenda for a

[2:54] second term.

[2:56] The most urgent task will be to put Iraq

[2:59] squarely on the path to democracy. The

[3:01] war was one of the president's biggest

[3:03] liabilities in the election, and last

[3:05] week's bin Laden videotape was a sharp

[3:07] reminder to President Bush that he'll

[3:09] begin a second term with important work

[3:11] from the first still undone. White House

[3:14] officials today played down the depth of

[3:16] the divide in America, though they did

[3:18] acknowledge the president has some

[3:19] distance to go to bring the country back

[3:21] together. But before he gets busy on

[3:23] that, he's going to take a little

[3:25] downtime at Camp David to rest up from

[3:27] the long campaign. Dan

[3:29] >> John Roberts reporting live from the

[3:30] White House. After vowing to fight for

[3:32] every vote in Ohio, the Kerry campaign

[3:34] did the math and decided there was no

[3:36] way the senator could win. Kerry

[3:39] telephoned the president. Then, as CBS's

[3:41] Jim Azerod reports, Senator Kerry

[3:43] addressed his supporters.

[3:46] >> To say goodbye, John Kerry returned to

[3:48] the place he first said hello.

[3:50] [applause]

[3:51] [cheering]

[3:51] Boston's Faniel Hall, where he declared

[3:54] his candidacy 14 months ago. I wish that

[3:57] I could just wrap you up in my arms and

[3:59] embrace each and every one of you

[4:00] individually all across this nation. I

[4:04] thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[4:08] For a man often called aloof, it was a

[4:10] warm and poignant farewell, leaving his

[4:13] supporters outside with moist eyes, but

[4:16] with no question why he was conceding.

[4:19] >> The outcome should be decided by voters,

[4:22] not a protracted legal process. In the

[4:25] half dozen hours between this

[4:27] declaration from John Edwards early this

[4:28] morning

[4:29] >> that in this election every vote would

[4:32] count and every vote would be counted

[4:36] >> and the concession later.

[4:37] >> You can be disappointed but you cannot

[4:40] walk away. This fight has just begun.

[4:43] >> Kerry campaign aids analyzed Ohio and

[4:45] decided it could not be won. They made

[4:48] the case to Carrie at 8:00 a.m. He met

[4:50] with Edwards at 10:00. He phoned the

[4:52] president at 11. and it was over.

[4:55] >> That you have taught me and you've

[4:56] tested me and you've lifted me up and

[4:59] you've made me stronger.

[5:01] >> John Kerry will return to Washington

[5:02] where he still has four years left in

[5:04] his fourth Senate term. But this

[5:06] afternoon, he promised it'll be a new

[5:08] man sliding behind his old desk.

[5:10] >> I know your struggles. I know your

[5:12] hopes. They are part of me now. And I

[5:17] will never forget you. And I'll never

[5:20] stop fighting for you.

[5:23] Senator Kerry left the national stage

[5:24] with this, quoting, "There are no losers

[5:27] in American elections because even if

[5:29] our candidate loses, we still wake up

[5:31] the next morning, Americans." And that's

[5:33] a thought even the senator's harshest

[5:35] critics would have a hard time picking

[5:37] apart. Dan Jim Axelrod reporting live

[5:40] from Boston. Thanks, Jim. In future

[5:42] elections, political analysts may put a

[5:44] bit less stock in the inside track data

[5:47] from exit polls. That's because some of

[5:50] the early numbers that got into

[5:51] circulation yesterday turned out to be

[5:54] misleading. CBS's Richard Slesinger has

[5:56] some data on that.

[5:58] >> I'm taking national election polls.

[6:00] >> Exit poll.

[6:01] >> Exit polls.

[6:01] >> Natalya Buucy and about 1500 exit

[6:04] pollsters like her spent yesterday

[6:06] gathering some of the most closely

[6:08] watched numbers in the political world.

[6:10] >> In today's election for president, did

[6:12] you vote for John Ky, George Bush, John

[6:15] Ky? Yesterday, a few of those early

[6:17] numbers leaked to some bloggers and

[6:20] today there are a few red faces in

[6:22] cyberspace where some of the information

[6:24] was published.

[6:25] >> It's not supposed to be leaked to the

[6:27] campaigns or to characterize um who's

[6:30] ahead or who's behind during the day.

[6:31] That's not the purpose of the first wave

[6:33] of exit poll data.

[6:34] >> The internet published numbers showing a

[6:37] close race, but one that Carrie was on

[6:39] the way to winning. According to one

[6:41] post, Carrie would win not just Ohio,

[6:43] but Florida as well. We're waiting for

[6:45] hard data to confirm. The

[6:47] >> networks, including this one, struggled

[6:49] with the early numbers, but resisted the

[6:51] temptation to call races based on exit

[6:54] polls. We did report the optimism in the

[6:57] Kerry camp early in the night. Of

[6:59] course, that optimism turned out to be

[7:00] misplaced, based largely on early exit

[7:03] polls that are notoriously unreliable.

[7:06] The first wave of data has smaller

[7:08] sample sizes and is only interviewing um

[7:11] people that voted that morning. So,

[7:13] they're not necessarily going to

[7:15] accurately reflect the entire days worth

[7:17] of interviews.

[7:18] >> How concerned are you about the

[7:19] availability and cost of healthcare?

[7:22] >> Election experts have warned for years

[7:24] that poll numbers are given too much

[7:26] credibility by a nation eager for quick

[7:29] information. This year, it was internet

[7:31] bloggers who learned the hard way not to

[7:33] consider those numbers a snapshot of

[7:36] voter attitude when they're really just

[7:38] a small part of a much larger picture.

[7:42] Richard Slesinger, CBS News, New York.

[7:45] >> More stories are just a click away.

[7:47] Don't forget to join me on television

[7:48] for the on air edition of the CBS

[7:51] Evening News. On Thursday's broadcast,

[7:54] expectant parents can now buy ultrasound

[7:56] photos of their unborn child at the mall

[7:59] without seeing a doctor. But is it safe?

[8:02] Before you sign up, see our

[8:04] investigative report for cbsnews.com.

[8:08] I'm Dan Rather.