The underestimated man will be the next president. Projecting a smiling self-confidence and transcending his malapropisms, Bush proved that an ambitious Republican agenda for economic change could trump voter gratitude for the buoyant Clinton economy. After an election night that resembled a color-coded war across the map of the United States, virtually any scenario was still possible as Tuesday began to fade into Wednesday morning. But then this has been an election season that has continually confounded the smug predictions of the armchair experts.
Close elections are the true crucible of democracy.
The vanquished, the man who was almost president, is left with the empty consolations of tearful well-wishers and his unrealized dreams. How haunting the if-onlys must be. Every decision made during the arduous campaign is rethought and then refought in memory. So many chances for victory, so many opportunities for regret and recrimination. But the voters, some animated and some apathetic, must also come to grips with the reality of a deeply divided nation.