America was graced with the presence of the same face on the morning after Election Day, President George W. Bush, racked up the highest percentage of electoral votes in election history.
Bush succeeded Sen. John Kerry with an approximate vote of 266-211, according to the Fox News’ broadcast. The remaining state, Ohio, was the deciding factor of which candidate would take on the position for the next four years. After Sen. Kerry saw that if he won Ohio’s votes, it still would not have led him to the top, he decided to concede and congratulated President Bush on a very sturdy, challenging election. It was obvious to America that Bush would succeed once more and take the election with the majority of the popular and Republican votes.
President Bush won numerous states, including Louisiana. Louisiana has never been considered a battleground state during the past elections, but this year it changed. Out of 4,124 precincts in the state, 57 percent showed support for President Bush and 42 percent were in favor of Kerry.
"I am so perturbed because I thought that my vote would have counted more and Bush could get out of office," said Jovan Thomas, a junior public health major.
According to the Louisiana Secretary of State website, several parishes were in favor of Bush. In Shreveport, La., Caddo Parish Republican votes of 54,162 defeated democratic votes of 51, 502. In Desoto Parish, Bush’s votes of 6,211 excelled Kerry’s votes of 5,026. In Orleans Parish, people voted in a different direction. Sen. Kerry received 151, 686 votes and Bush received 42, 760 votes.
"I woke up very early to vote at the library by Dillard because I believed that this was the year that some one better than Bush could take a stand, but I guess I was wrong," said Ronika Dunnaway, a junior criminal justice major. St. Charles Parish voted for Bush giving him 14,747 votes, which succeeded Kerry’s 8, 895 votes.
With Louisiana’ s votes assisting in Bush’s success in this election, it was no different from the 2000 election when Bush succeeded Gore with 53 percent to 45 percent. "It was shocking to see that Louisiana actually took the Republican side," said Thomas.
Not only did Louisiana vote Republican for the presidential election, the state’s votes played a major role in the decided factor of other candidates. There was no doubt that the U.S. Senator’s position will be filled by a Republican candidate, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State website.
David Vitter, Republican candidate for the U. S. Senate position seat for Louisiana, won overall with 51 percent of the vote. In the 1st Congressional District, Bobby Jindal, a Republican, won this election with 78 percent of the votes. In the 3rd Congressional District, W.J. Billy Tauzin, III, a Republican, brought in a total of 84,600 votes, gained 32 percent.
It was a close call for the position of Public Service Commissioner, District 3, between Lambert Boissiere, III and Cleo Fields who are both Democrats. Boissiere won 52 percent and Fields collected 48 percent.
The race showed the same signs of being as close as the presidential election in 2000, when Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore, the democratic presidential candidate, but won the electoral college votes and presidency after a ruling by the Supreme Court, about the controversy in Florida.
According to the Associate Press, the majority of the country feels safer from terrorism than four years ago with Bush’s guidance and control. "We will not be safe from harm and danger until Bush is out of office and a better person comes in to end the war," said Aislyn Lipford, a junior mass communication major.
Many strategies from both candidates were displayed to the public giving all the background information to decide the correct candidate to hold the job. Kerry focused more on implementing a new plan and striving to succeed in a new direction, while Bush played up the risks of change. "I am sure this country is about to go straight down hill," said Dunnaway.
These next four years will in deed be a serious time that America will never forget.
