Reporters' log: Kerry concedes

The BBC's team of correspondents filed reports and personal impressions after Senator John Kerry admitted defeat in the race for the White House. Here are their final thoughts on the marathon race that returned George W Bush to office.

Matt Frei :: Washington :: 2230GMT

Don't underestimate George Bush's potential to reach across the divide and to surprise - to reinvent himself yet again. This is his second term. He'll want to get his place in the history books, and you don't get into the first chapter of America's history books if you're a divider and not a uniter. The big presidents in the past will show you that.

Secondly, there is a spirit of bipartisanship that despite all the emotion and bitterness of this election campaign runs in the political bloodstream of this country - it is a spirit that was born on the battlefields of Gettysburg in the civil war. He will have to keep that in mind when he tries to unite the country.

Mark Mardell :: Downing Street, London :: 2217GMT

Neither result would have been pain-free for Tony Blair. If Senator Kerry had won, then Mr Blair would have been the last main war leader left standing and he would have looked isolated.

But the re-election of President Bush means that a reminder of that relationship that will continue - which so many people in the Labour Party find absolutely poisonous.

Gavin Hewitt :: Boston :: 2214GMT

As for the future of the Democrats, well, at the moment John Edwards is really the future. Charismatic, likeable, and almost certainly he will run in four years' time. But the lesson of this election? You may be likeable and charismatic, but can the Democrats reach out to that southern, western swathe of the United States, which surrounds itself with the flag, regards itself as deeply patriotic and has deep faith-based values? That really is the challenge for the Democrats.

Philippa Thomas :: Columbus, Ohio :: 2210GMT

I've just been sat with a group of young Democrats who are commiserating with each other. They're very shocked, asking each other "what happened"?

When they saw those long lines outside the polling stations yesterday, the Democrats assumed they were for them. But as we now know, they weren't.

Chris Morris :: Brussels, Belgium :: 2155GMT

While European leaders have been united in sending messages of congratulation to President Bush, many are hoping that the next four years will be different from the last four. They want more consultation in the future.

This election victory could be the chance for a fresh start, but nobody here is taking that for granted.

Caroline Wyatt :: Paris, France :: 2150GMT

This may not have been the outcome France was hoping for. But the French President Jacques Chirac is a realist, and his government will now have to try to rebuild relations with the new Bush administration.

The French President said he hoped the links between France and the US would be strengthened.

Justin Webb :: Washington D.C. :: 2110GMT

President Bush will be at his desk in the Oval Office tomorrow morning for a normal day of meetings and briefings. Over the next few days he'll also give some thought to the shape of his closest team.

The fate of Colin Powell is unclear. He is expected to go, but he may not want to. As for Condoleezza Rice, she has said in the past that she wants to return to her University career. But she is believed to harbour presidential aspirations, and may be persuaded to stay on in another role.

Jeremy Paxman :: Washington D.C. :: 2040GMT

For the first time since his father did so in 1988, George W Bush has won a majority of the popular vote. Famously, last time his opponents piled up more votes than he did.

His Republicans will dominate the new Senate, and they'll have a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives.

The whole of this government is now in their thrall.

John Simpson :: Reagan Centre, Washington DC :: 2000GMT

All around me there is a respectful and excited sense of tension as we await the arrival of the President. The crowd are chanting "four more years, four more years".

Gill McGivering :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1950GMT

Senator Kerry looked exhausted, and at times close to tears. This was a speech he'd hoped never to make. In accepting defeat his emphasis was on comforting his supporters as well as thanking them.

He's described this election as one of the most important of his lifetime. He must hope his own dignified acceptance of defeat will provide inspiration to his supporters.

Jane Hughes :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1925GMT

There was an enormous round of applause when John Kerry started speaking to his supporters. A lot of people across America will share his sentiments about the need for the country to come together.

Matt Frei :: Washington DC :: 1830GMT

This time round George W Bush has run as a radical, but he might govern as a centrist. Why? Because he'll be governing from a position of strength.

Brian Barron :: Columbus, Ohio :: 1815GMT

They're getting ready for Christmas at the Ohio State house today, but goodwill is in short supply. At the Democrat headquarters, there's depression as the magnitude of the loss sets in.

Some people had to wait several hours to vote yesterday, but no one we talked to believed that this was because of malign intent. And the man in charge of the Ohio vote, Republican Kenneth Blackwell, has rebuffed all criticism.

Jeremy Cooke :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1810GMT

Why did Kerry's marathon campaign fail? He hoped Americans would see him as strong commander in chief but then his war record was attacked. He didn't talk about health or the economy, all the issues which are traditionally the strength of the Democrats. So just like Al Gore before him he must now come to terms with the brutal nature of American politics - and he'll spend the rest of his life reflecting on what might have been.

He will address his supporters and tell them he's proud of the job they did but thinks he couldn't have done any more to win the White House. This will leave the Democrats scratching their heads and wondering how they can beat the Republicans next time round. Already one name has been pulled out of the hat - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, of New York.

Steve Evans :: with the Bush campaign, Washington DC :: 1805GMT

In the end, the election was not quite as expected. Mr Bush had led in the polls - though not by as much as the final result suggested.

The American people voted in record numbers. Mr Bush won by the first majority of the total vote for 16 years. The Democrats have some thinking to do.

Matt Frei :: Washington DC :: 1730GMT

Looking at opinion polls, still a slim majority of people thought the war was the right thing to do and thought Bush was the right person to handle it rather than John Kerry. Do you change commander in chief in the middle of a war? I guess the majority of people decided you don't.

The presidency has an aura about it. It's a selective version of the monarchy. You respect the president more than chief executives in other democracies - that's the way it is here. Then there is the post 9/11 factor, wrapping yourself in the flag and the patriotism here. Kerry said although he supported the war we need a fresh start. He said he had clean hands - but the majority of Americans didn't buy that.

Brian Hanrahan :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1640GMT

The major problem for the Democrats was not practicalities - they could have gone down to the wire, and John Edwards being a trial lawyer is a man who is used to grinding through the detail to try to get a result.

I would have thought the clinching argument was simply that the popular vote was stacking up sufficiently in President Bush's favour.

Adam Brookes :: Washington DC :: 1630GMT

The key, crucial phone call from John Kerry to George Bush, conceding the election has been made.

We haven't heard it out of the mouth of John Kerry yet that he has conceded, we haven't heard it out of the mouth of George Bush that he's won, but I think we're there.

Jon Sopel :: Washington DC :: 1625GMT

So far we've only had anonymous sources, but we now have a name. Democratic challenger John Kerry telephoned President George W. Bush on Wednesday and conceded the White House election, campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter has said.

Matt Frei :: Washington DC :: 1620GMT

Even if the provisional votes of Ohio had all been cast for John Kerry, the massive popular vote that Bush received would make it difficult for a 'President' Kerry to govern.

Adam Brookes :: Washington DC :: 1610GMT

We anticipate that George W Bush will be making a statement soon, though we don't have a timetable for this.

Legally Bush can declare himself the winner, but until, and if, John Kerry concedes defeat, if doesn't matter what Bush says.

Philippa Thomas :: Columbus, Ohio :: 1420GMT

Mathematically, it's still possible for John Kerry to take Ohio and win the Presidency. But only if most of the provisional votes are for him.

The authorities here are feeling under pressure. They remember Florida in 2000, and they don't want that to happen here.

Adam Brookes :: Washington DC :: 1410GMT

There are important underlying trends here. Something in the order of 4 million votes helped the Republicans. Overall, it looks like the country has shifted further towards the Republicans.

That means that Bush will have a stronger mandate to govern than he did last time.

Laura Trevelyan :: Washington DC :: 1330GMT

We know that George W Bush is itching to claim victory. And they must be congratulating themselves in the White House. Karl Rove's plan was to get out an extra 4 million voters, and he seems to have done just that, by talking about abortion and gay marriage.

Adam Brookes :: Washington DC :: 1318GMT

We're being told Bush is going to come to the Reagan Centre some time in the next few hours to make a statement. We can anticipate he'll be piling pressure on Kerry to concede defeat. Bush will try to build an atmosphere whereby people believe he's won and it's all over bar the shouting.

Jeremy Cooke :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1315GMT

At the moment John Kerry is hunkered down with his staff. He's determined to cling on to his dream of the White House. Until a few hours ago he had real hopes of winning it - but now he could be facing a future in political oblivion.

Brian Barron :: Columbus, Ohio :: 1310GMT

A final outcome may be two weeks away. The question is, will Senator Kerry cry foul?

It's very hard to see how Senator Kerry could extract some kind of recovery from those provisional votes in Ohio.

Rob Watson :: Washington DC :: 1233GMT

The Republicans are already saying President Bush has won re-election, so the tactic now to put pressure on Senator Kerry to accept defeat.

President Bush will be making a statement later on Wednesday, presumably to claim victory. White House officials say they're not anticipating a long legal wrangle in Ohio - no point, they say, as it's just not mathematically possible for Senator Kerry to win there.

There are echoes here of the 2000 election but with one crucial difference. This time, President Bush has won the popular vote and won it handily.

Jane Hughes :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1211GMT

It is a pretty forlorn sight here in Boston this morning, everything is being packed up at the scene of the Democratic party. We don't expect to hear anything from the Kerry camp for at least three or four hours.

They want to get a definitive result from Ohio, they want to see that very clearly before they say anything.

I'm sure in their minds is the memory of Al Gore four years ago going out and making a concession speech and then having to retreat from that when Florida was so tight. They are happy to wait one more day here, they are in no hurry.

Emma Simpson :: Washington DC :: 1202GMT

The building behind me is now empty, the Republic supporters have all gone home to have some rest. Andrew Card, the President's chief of staff has put the pressure on the Kerry camp, they are happy with their figures.

I don't think the Republicans are in any rush. The figures are all in their favour, including the figure for the popular vote.

Jill McGivering :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1129GMT

All the indications are that the Democrats are going to keep fighting. They have said all along that they were going to make sure every vote counted and that every vote was counted. They are going to fight this to the end.

They are focussed on Ohio, they are arguing that it is possible that a very high percentage of those provisional ballots may be for the Democrats. It may be a long process.

Jane Hughes :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1108GMT

Behind me it's a dismal scene in the early morning rain. There were the most enormous crowds yesterday hoping to celebrate victory, but people gradually went home and it became more gloomy. John Edwards was here to say thank you and goodnight - we will be back in the morning, and the camp is now going away.

But they will be back in the morning as they're not making any assumptions until somebody reaches that magic number of 270 electoral college votes. As Kerry said, every vote counts.

John Simpson :: Washington DC :: 1049GMT

Won it in every respect, that's the line the Republicans are now taking, not only the electoral college but also the popular vote. They are making it clear this is a genuine all out victory, they are saying to the Democrats why are you hanging around.

They are trying to do this by agreement, they want the Democrats to fall into line and say ok, you've won, and we accept that.

Jon Sopel :: Washington DC :: 1043GMT

The Republican supporters at the Reagan Centre were hoping to hear from the president himself declaring victory, but it was his chief of staff, Andrew Card, who delivered the news that President Bush had carried Ohio by a "statistically insurmountable" number of votes and that he had achieved the largest popular vote by any president in history.

President Bush will make a statement later on Wednesday, giving Senator Kerry more time to reflect on the results.

Michael Buchanan :: Columbus, Ohio :: 1023GMT

Counting hasn't yet been completed in Ohio. But with more than 98% of districts reporting results, President Bush is more than 170,000 ahead of his opponent. John Kerry will therefore have to rely on absentee and provisional ballots, votes that have been cast in cases where there is some doubt about the rights of a person to actually vote.

Election officials will spend the next ten days verifying those ballots before they're counted. In the meantime, Ohio officials are expected to provide an interim result shortly.

If Mr Bush's lead is greater than the total number of ballots that are still to be counted, there will be great pressure on Mr Kerry to concede.

Bridget Kendall :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 1010GMT

Kerry and Edwards feel it would be unfair to all their supporters to concede without every single vote having been counted. They clearly think it's too soon to say "It looks like we haven't made it." I think they will be immune to any pressure from the Republicans.

Turnout and early voting were important - the Democrats managed to galvanise young people and when they saw those long lines of voters they thought they were for them. Perhaps they underestimated all the people that the Republicans managed to galvanise too - probably their base of supporters.

David Willis :: Miami, Florida :: 0952GMT

There's no doubt about the winner in the Golden State. The first edition of the Miami Herald reads "Florida says Bush". People were still queuing to vote when the networks began to call the state for Bush. If only it had been so simple four years ago.

This was very much a turning point, as this was a key battleground state. There's talk of 75 to 80% turnout here, and people judged this to be in the Democrats favour. But it seems ultimately the question of jobs and the economy were less important than security concerns for Floridians and so undecided voters went for Bush.

Rob Watson :: Washington DC :: 0949GMT

For the Republicans, it was a night that just seemed to get better by the minute. As the first results started to come in, it was clear that the president had done much better than many pundits had predicted and some Republicans had feared.

The moment that really turned the mood here was the announcement the president had held Florida. When two American television networks called Ohio for the president, the mood went from jubilation to a celebration of what most here see as the president's re-election.

Despite the refusal of the Kerry campaign to concede Ohio, Republican officials say it's only a matter of time. There is still talk from the White House that the president may yet make an appearance to declare a form of victory if he's found to have won some of the other states where votes are still being counted.

Bridget Kendall :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 0942GMT

The mood here is dispirited and the people here are quite stunned, there was an expectation of something different. They are crest-fallen. If there had been a big win for John Kerry the Democrats would have felt this was a referendum on George Bush's presidency.

Ian Pannell :: Washington DC :: 0925GMT

There are around 140,000 votes between the two candidates in Ohio and Bush is ahead. But there are around 160,000 to 200,000 provisional ballots which need to be counted. If all of these went to Kerry, he would get to the White House.

But the mood which seems to be prevalent in the Bush camp is that they are happy they have probably won Ohio. The calculation they need to make is how it would look for them to make a victory claim without Kerry having conceded. A question of protocol, if you like.

Brian Barron :: Columbus, Ohio :: 0912GMT

All the signs are that Mr Bush has a lead, not a massive lead but a lead. We are expecting an unofficial result here in the next hour or so and the expectation is that Ohio is Mr Bush's territory.

I think what happened is that both the President and Mr Kerry campaigned many times in this place, they recognised it was a crucial place.

Jill McGivering :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 0835GMT

This election has been bitter and divisive. Many Democrats are horrified by the idea of a second Bush term. This wasn't the victory they'd hoped for. But many here are still determined not to accept defeat.

John Simpson :: Washington DC :: 0808GMT

People are starting to slip away from the Reagan Centre now - they feel the job's been done. It is still fairly packed here but not as it was. People are standing quietly, watching network television and cheering when people say something nice about President Bush.

We were half expecting Bush and Cheney to turn up here to claim victory, but I doubt they will now as it looks as though this isn't quite the moment to do that.

When you see things from the Democratic point of view and consider the feeling that Gore gave up too quickly four years ago, you could understand them wanting to fight on.

Julian Worricker :: Washington DC :: 0806GMT

I think there is a feeling here that what we've heard from John Edwards is putting off the inevitable.

The provisional votes in Ohio, as I understand it, are from people who went to their polling stations today but were not registered in advance. Those voters now have to be verified in terms of their identity and it needs to be confirmed that they have not voted somewhere else too.

In terms of the fat lady, she may not have sung yet but she probably is clearing her throat.

Jill McGivering :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 0759GMT

John Edwards seemed tired and a little subdued as he came out to speak to supporters who had stood in the cold and pouring rain for hours waiting to hear results. But in a short statement he made it clear the Democrats weren't giving up. It has been a long night, he said, but we have waited for years for victory and we can wait one more night.

Some strategists here are trying to emphasise that the battle isn't yet over, pointing, for example, to provisional ballots still to be added to the count in the crucial state of Ohio and absentee votes. The general mood here is dejected, but the Democrats, it seems, are determined to fight on.

Daniel Lak :: Miami, Florida :: 0752GMT

The Republicans are having a swinging old time here. They are watching the results coming in on tv and cheering every one.

The Florida result is interesting really, last time people will remember Bush won by only 537 vote. This time around the margin is a lot bigger. Analysing the result, firstly it is the Hispanic voters, Spanish speaking voters and not just the Cubans of Miami, but voters from all across Latin America. They seem to have gone strongly for Bush. White males have gone for him, married women too, single women seem to have stuck with Kerry.

The Democrats are still tallying and re-tallying and they have their abacus out to see if there is any legal ground what so ever they can work on.

There have been a few problems, some absentee ballots arrived too late and some voting machines seized up or didn't work properly, there will be a trickle of these stories in the coming days. The Democrats are pretty quiet, it seems they are conceding defeat, quietly.

Lesley Ashmall :: Las Vegas, Nevada :: 0742GMT

If Ohio goes to John Kerry then smaller states like Nevada and New Mexico, which both have five electoral college votes, really become significant.

New Mexico looks as though it's going towards Bush. It was won by Al Gore last time and by the tiniest of margins - 366 votes.

So far George Bush has 52 percent of the vote there. John Kerry has 47 percent. But Nevada couldn't be closer. It is neck and neck.

Brian Hanrahan :: Boston, Massachusetts :: 0730GMT

John Edwards has addressed party workers here in Boston telling them they can wait one more night for the result and that they will fight for every vote. The Democrats have to win all the other states as yet undeclared as well as Ohio to have a chance of taking the presidency.

This was very largely a holding operation, what they are certainly not doing is throwing in the towel now.

The Secretary of State for Ohio says it will take them 11 days to go into the backlog of votes, to sort them out and count them. They are provisional, they will check if they are valid first and then count them in. This will not happen quickly.

Brian Barron :: Columbus, Ohio :: 0723GMT

The secretary of state for Ohio has said that there may be an unofficial result within the next few hours.

Beyond that, there could be 150,000 to 250,000 absentee and provisional ballots which would take another ten days to two weeks to account and verify.

That throws a spanner in a very neat result here. It's a very confusing situation and development are happening as I speak.

Jim Naughtie :: Washington :: 0715GMT

What began as a rather happy night for John Kerry and his supporters in their lair in Boston turned quite quickly into a night of joy for the Republicans who believe the President is on his way to victory.

He is not there yet but he is well on the road. The key state, and we wait to see what happens there, is Ohio.

The secretary of state of Ohio says he's going to be very careful - it may take some time. John Kerry's people are saying they wil not concede until every vote had been counted and provisional ballots have been looked at.

But the fact is this. George Bush can win the Presidency without Ohio and could do that within a few hours. John Kerry cannot.

He needs the buckeye state - and that's why his people say they will give it time and count every vote. It may be Florida all over again.

John Simpson :: at the Bush rally, Washington DC :: 0707GMT

Essentially, the Republicans think they've won. There are all sorts of nudges and winks that President Bush is going to turn up here with vice president Cheney.

They are unlikely to come until the result is absolutely certain but maybe they will come and thank the party faithful anyway.

You can hear the noise. The crowds are enormous. The music has been blasting away all evening and if the president himself turns up, it'll be the icing on the cake.

Justin Webb :: Washington DC :: 0702GMT

Everything hinges now on Ohio. If that state is won by President Bush he will win the election. If John Kerry wins he has a small chance of hanging on.

The count in Ohio is still too close to make a safe prediction though two American networks have suggested that President Bush will win.

The Democrats are firmly refusing to concede. They claim that the number of provisional ballots - ballots over which there is some question - is greater than the difference between the two candidates so either man could still win.

Reporters' Log - America Votes Nov 2