He promised this would be his last campaign — and he was determined to fight it hard to the bitter end. George Bush told aides that, win or lose, this would be the final time he sought public office and he was determined on Tuesday to leave nothing to chance.
Breaking the convention that election day should be free of campaigning,the president squeezed in one more stop — in the pivotal state of Ohio, without which no Republican has ever won the White House. Officially he was there to thank the volunteers, but few doubted that his real objective was to give the phenomenal get-out-the-vote drive an extra, presidential push.
Bush’s day began in more traditional fashion, with a visit to his local polling station. He pitched up at 7:39am local time at the Crawford fire department and ambulance post, in the tiny Texas town where the president likes to clear brush and tend cattle on his ranch.
”Feel great,” he called out to reporters, his arm around the first lady, Laura Bush, as they and their two daughters entered the polling station.
But observers were not listening to the words: they were scrutinising the body language. Was that smile a little forced? Were the daughters looking glum because they had seen some internal, secret polling?
Inside, Bush gave a peck on the cheek to one of the local officials, slipped inside the booth and voted for himself — the last time he will have that chance.
When he emerged minutes later it was to tease the press on looking ”groggy” – they had accompanied him on a gruelling, six-state, 19-hour campaign swing the previous day — and to project an image of serene confidence.
”This election is in the hands of the people and I feel very comfortable with that,” he said. ”I believe I’m going to win.”
Asked how he assessed the dead-even eve of election polls and early reports of high turnout, he joked: ”I’m not a good prognosticator. You’re the pundits. We’ll just see what the people say.”
He wished his opponent ”all the best”, saying that he and John Kerry had something in common. ”We’ve given it our all. I’m sure he feels like I do.”
With that he waved goodbye, hopped into the black SUV that serves as presidential limo and headed for Air Force One, to take him to a campaign office in Columbus, Ohio. There he and Mrs Bush shook hands and met the campaign workers on whom his presidency seemed to hinge.
After that, a flight to Washington, where the president planned to watch the election returns on television in the White House residence, surrounded by his family, including his parents.
His supporters, meanwhile, gathered on Tuesday night at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, a couple of blocks from the White House. The flags were bright, the country and western music loud, the TV monitors huge and blaring.
But no one was sure what kind of party they had come to. The day had been an unsettling blend of confidence and uncertainty, fitting for a campaign that for months on end had seemed knife-edge close.
Confidence was certainly the explicit theme of the president’s words, and he worked hard to reinforce that impression. He was laughing and back-slapping as he landed in Ohio. Just visible behind him was his campaign mastermind, Karl Rove, wearing an anorak — and a smile.
Aides said Bush was not just putting on a show for the cameras. ”He has a total Zen attitude about it,” said Mark McKinnon, the president’s chief media strategist.
But there was none of the cockiness that previous winning campaigns have exuded on election day. Those on board the Bush plane reported a subdued mood, with key players on edge. ”Everybody’s nervous,” conceded McKinnon.
Republican anxiety centred on Kerry’s projected win in the swing state of New Jersey, and also early exit polls which showed Kerry ahead in almost all the key battleground states. The surge in turnout also seemed to tilt in the senator’s favour.
But perhaps the clearest sign of uncertainty in the Bush camp was that Ohio stop. The president relaxed on election day in 2000 and his team believed that cost them valuable votes, a mistake they could not afford to repeat.
Republican sources said the idea of Tuesday’s event was not the president’s, but was suggested by his anxious wife. – Guardian Unlimited Â