2004: Ready for Change, Ready for Hillary

[MAINEiac4434]

9:03

We're getting the first reports out of Oklahoma...it's too early to call but it's looking very good for President Bush. We have no news on the Oklahoma Democratic caucus.

9:17

Let's take another look at South Carolina for the Democrats:

South Carolina Democratic primary
John Edwards: 37.9
Hillary Clinton: 33.6
Howard Dean: 20.3
Joe Lieberman: 7.4
Uncommitted/Other: 0.8

Edwards is actually increasing his lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton. With over 50% of precincts reporting, Edwards may be able to pull off an upset.

9:22

We have a major projection now, we can call Oklahoma for both parties:


George W. Bush has won Oklahoma with a substantial share of the caucus vote.

Let's look at the map now:

Delaware and New Hampshire for Lincoln Chafee, Iowa, South Carolina, Missouri and Oklahoma for Bush. North Dakota, Arizona and New Mexico are uncalled.

For the Democrats, we have an upset:

Howard Dean has won Oklahoma, a major victory for him as his campaign. Dean's popularity among the activist wing of the Democratic Party, not to mention the Clinton campaign largely ignoring the state and focusing more on South Carolina, Arizona and Missouri, could've helped push the former governor of Vermont over the edge.

Let's look at the map:

Clinton has won Iowa, New Hampshire, Delaware and Missouri. Howard Dean has won Oklahoma. South Carolina, North Dakota, Arizona and New Mexico are uncalled as of this hour.

We now pause for a brief commercial break.

[MAINEiac4434]

9:31

We can now call North Dakota for the Democrats.


Hillary Clinton has won North Dakota, in an unsurprising turn of events. More surprising, however, is that Lincoln Chafee is running neck and neck with President Bush in the Republican caucus. North Dakota is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative Republican state, it has not gone for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide, so it was believed that Lincoln Chafee's liberalism would not be welcome in North Dakota. But opposition to the war knows no political affiliation apparently, and Chafee is giving the President a run for his money.

The map for the Democrats:

9:38

We can call New Mexico for both parties:


George W. Bush has won New Mexico by a decent margin. The map:

While for the Democrats:


Hillary Clinton has landslided her opposition in New Mexico. Arizona and South Carolina remain uncalled for the Democrats, with John Edwards leading in the latter.

9:41

Arizona can be called for the Democrats:


It's another win for the Senator from New York. Hillary Clinton has won Arizona by a large margin. It remains uncalled for the Republic--hold that thought:


George W. Bush has won Arizona. North Dakota is the only state uncalled for the Republicans. Let's look at the map, first for the Democrats:

And the Republicans:

We are still unable to call South Carolina for the Democrats. North Carolina Senator, and South Carolina native, John Edwards leads Hillary Clinton there, with now over 80% of the precincts reporting. Our political team is exercising extreme caution in calling this state. In primaries, things can change very quickly when different areas report, for example, Clinton's best area of South Carolina might not have even started reporting yet. The votes as they stand:

South Carolina Democratic primary, 80% reporting
John Edwards: 36.8%
Hillary Clinton: 34.5%
Howard Dean: 19.7%
Joe Lieberman: 8.5%
Uncommitted/Other: 0.5%

Lincoln Chafee has not performed well tonight, except for Delaware and the one state on the Republican side we have been unable to call: North Dakota. North Dakota is a caucus, so as the reports trickle in things can change drastically very quickly, but as it stands:

North Dakota Republican caucus, 40% reporting
Lincoln Chafee: 55.6%
George W. Bush: 43.1%
Uncommitted: 1.3%

[MAINEiac4434]

9:45

Governor Dean has taken the stage in Burlington. Let's listen in.



"Thank you! Thank you so much! Wow...thank you.

When we started this...great journey back in June, no one expected us to make any headway. No one expected us to lead polls. No one expected us to come even close to other candidates. No one expected us to win a state! Thanks, Oklahoma!

But, as time's gone on, our campaign has touched on real issues that impact real Americans. And I am so proud of this campaign. I'm so proud of our volunteers in every state in the union. I'm so proud of every donor, who donated even a few dollars to make this country great again. They donated because they believed that America still hasn't lived up to its potential. They volunteered because they know that America cannot demand respect while attacking nations indiscriminately.

But despite of how hard we worked, we came up just a little bit short. Which is why I'm suspending my campaign for President of the United States. This party needs unity if it wants to take back the White House from the Bush cabal.

And the best choice to win back the White House is clearly Senator Clinton. Which is why I'm giving her my full support for the campaign ahead in the fall!"

10:01

As Governor Dean is calling for unity, that may have just gotten a lot harder: we can call South Carolina for Senator John Edwards.



Here's the Democratic map, with a winner declared in every contest contested thus far.

North Dakota is still uncalled between President Bush and Senator Chafee on the Republican side.

[Former Senator Haslam2020]

Edwards '04!!! Also hopefully Chafee pulls that win off

[BlueDogDemocrat]

I absolutely love this timeline and all the details. Keep up the good work.

[Bidenworth2020]

bump

[MAINEiac4434]

Just seeing the bumps now.

I feel like I kinda wrote myself into a corner with this. I’m not sure where to go, especially with he added wrinkle of the Kucinich Green candidacy.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Just seeing the bumps now.

I feel like I kinda wrote myself into a corner with this. I’m not sure where to go, especially with he added wrinkle of the Kucinich Green candidacy.

Hm... I, for one, am still curious to see how Chafee's candidacy goes and by how much Hillary defeats Bush