It’s decided: George W. Bush wins
Bush wins!
I decided yesterday that I would be gracious in victory (i.e. not like this) and gracious in defeat. I’ll stick to that. However…
The Democrats need to concede this election. Now. With 100% of Ohio precincts reporting (as of 6:41 a.m. ET on 11/03), Bush holds a margin of 136,221 votes in the state. The Secretary of State estimates 175,000 outstanding provisional ballots in the state, and to make up a 136,000 vote disparity, John Kerry would need Ohio’s provisional ballot voters to be as Democratic as the zombie voters of Washington, D.C. to win this election.
By the way, for what it’s worth, Mary Beth Cahill’s estimate of 250,000 outstanding ballots in the state is a pipe dream. However, even using her number, she’d need the Ohio provisional ballot voters to break like this to make up the difference:
| Number of votes | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| Kerry | 193,111 | 77.2% |
| Bush | 56,889 | 22.8% |
| Total | 250,000 | 100% |
It should be noted that no state, not even the most Democratic in the nation (Massachusetts), voted anything near a 77.2% majority for Kerry.
Democrats, it’s time to face reality, accept defeat, and move on with salvaging something from the 2004 election. Prolonging the torture will not help.
UPDATE: Well, this is obviously no longer an issue, but the Dems shouldn’t have dragged this through the night.