Bush Team Strategy Was To Try To Force Kerry Concession
President Bush's forces did all they could this morning to show that the president's victory could not be stopped and that John Kerry should concede as soon as possible. The White House strategy was to act as if Bush were the clear winner and that nothing could dislodge him. If Kerry had not conceded, he had planned to take this tack and claim victory in Washington later today.
He and his aides were going to state that he had won Ohio, giving him a majority in the Electoral College, and that, nationwide, he had won three million more popular votes than Kerry. This is a clear majority, his aides said. And that's something not even Bill Clinton, the last two-term president, managed to do. Bush is also planning to hold a Cabinet meeting tomorrow–another move designed to create an aura of inevitability around him. And he may leave for his ranch in Crawford, Texas before the week is out–another move designed to show business as usual in the Bush White House. –Kenneth T. Walsh, U.S. News
