Posted on 11/03/2004 10:16:16 AM PST by Thanatos
Friends and supporters gather outside Kerry home after he concedes defeat
Eds: UPDATES throughout with scene outside Kerry home, call to Bush.
By MARY DALRYMPLE
Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) -- Friends and supporters gathered Wednesday at the Beacon Hill home of Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat whose two-year campaign for the White House ended abruptly with the loss of the make-or-break state of Ohio in a close election.
Kerry planned to speak to supporters and the nation about 1 p.m. EST in Boston. Outside his home on Louisburg Square, about two dozen onlookers, at least one of them wearing a Kerry campaign button, quietly watched as about six police officers and Secret Service agents kept guard.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who campaigned heavily for Kerry over the past year, entered the house Wednesday morning with his wife, Victoria. Also spotted going inside were David Thorne, Kerry's longtime friend and former brother-in-law, stepson Andre Heinz, and brother Cameron Kerry.
Kerry called Bush shortly before 11 a.m. to concede defeat after his campaign determined Ohio was out of reach.
"Congratulations, Mr. President," Kerry said.
Hours earlier, Kerry huddled inside his home with advisers while running mate John Edwards addressed the nation from Copley Square. Both Democrats had campaigned until the last minute, mindful of the close finish four years ago.
"We've waited four years for this victory, we can wait one more night," Edwards, standing outside on a cold, drizzly night, told supporters still awake in the wee hours of the morning.
Advisers later said the campaign just wanted one last look at the uncounted ballots in Ohio, where Bush held a 136,000-vote advantage. The state's 20 electoral votes sealed victory for Bush.
In 2000, Bush sweated out a 36-day recount before a Supreme Court ruling awarded him Florida and the White House.
Kerry spent the campaign's final weeks going after Bush with a steady stream of criticism over his decision to wage war in Iraq and his push for costly tax cuts the Democrat said were irresponsible.
The four-term Massachusetts senator worked to tap into voters' pessimistic frame of mind, evident in exit polls, which showed them worried about new terrorist attacks, job losses and the war in Iraq.
The exit polls, conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International, showed Kerry the favorite of black voters and leading among Hispanics and women.
In August, Kerry looked as though he might wither as Bush polished his credentials as a wartime commander in chief.
Kerry pinched pennies until Labor Day, trying to stretch his public campaign funding until the general election campaign picked up. His wartime service under attack, Kerry let others defend the military service in Vietnam that won him three Purple Hearts and other medals.
In September, with a pair of attacks on the president's conduct in Iraq, Kerry tried to take the offensive and shake off persistent questions about his seemingly contradictory votes for the war and against $87 billion for military operations and reconstruction.
In two speeches, Kerry said the president's mismanagement led to "spreading violence, growing extremism, havens for terrorists that weren't there before."
He told voters the tens of billions of dollars poured into the invasion and reconstruction could have been better used at home, and he argued that no responsible commander in chief would have started the war knowing Saddam Hussein did not possess the weapons of mass destruction he was thought to have.
"Yet today, President Bush tells us that he would do everything all over again, the same way. How can he possibly be serious?" Kerry said.
The Democrat seized on three televised debates as his best opportunity to make these arguments to his largest audience, and his support ticked up after he delivered three solid performances.
Wonder if he had to have any more fire hydrants relocated so they could park.
TWO dozzen onlookers? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Fox has a Kerry-cam outside his house in Boston....hehehe
I bet what's happening is...his aids are pulling on his legs, trying to get him to let go of the stair rails and go and make his little speech. I can picture it now....
For once, the Senator took advice and comported himself honorably. The wars of the political season are over and its now time to look forward to country's business - we're still in a wartime situation.
Somebody needs to tell them the campaign is over and Kerry lost.
She's busy with her gin and raisins.
She can't; remember she and the hubby made the City of Boston move the fire hydrant in front of their house so they could partk there!
Doctors, Psychiatrists, Attorneys, Therapists, & Porn Stars.
Did Mama T call the cops to get the rabble off her lawn?
Clock watchers of the world unite.......clintoon time approaches. Kerry is still flip-flopping between EST & EDT.
1:00 concession speech not until 2:00
4 years ago - those were my 2 daughters and 2 daughters-in-law (with the drums)"!!!!!!!!!!! fond memories
Oh wow,this is getting rich....SEEMINGLY contradictory??
There are so many tears being shed at newpapers all over the country, it's making me smile...
: )
Friends and supporters gather outside Kerry home after he concedes defeatDon't be sad, John. Didn't you say you believed that life begins at conception?
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