2004 Presidential Election (St. Jimmy)

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 Party
 Home state
 Running mate
 Electoral vote
 States carried

The **2004 Presidential Election** was the 55th quadrennial American presidential election. It was held on November 2, 2004. The Democratic ticket of Incumbent Georgia Senator Jimmy Carter and Delaware Senator Joe Biden defeated the Republican ticket of Incumbent President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

After the disastrous first term of George W. Bush, which saw one of the most devastating attacks on American soil, 9/11 saw the deaths of over 3, 000 Americans, including 15 Senators, after a shaky start to his term, Bush completely plummeted at one point having an approval rating of only 27%, made worse by the controversial Iraq War.

With the awful term of Bush, thousands of candidates from the democratic party came out out of the smoke, with the winner among candidates like Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, and others, was Georgia Senator Jimmy Carter, who would pick Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. And despite his unpopularity, Bush would go past Congressman Ron Paul for the Republican nomination, and he would keep the controversial Dick Cheney at his right hand as Vice President.

Some of the main issues that were debated in this election were Bush's handling on 9/11, the War on Terror, and the Iraq War, health care, abortion, and LGBTQ+ Rights.

## Primaries:

### Republican Primaries:

Bush had become very unpopular with the American people in his first term, but stayed somewhat popular within the party, despite 5 Republican Senators dying on the attack on the capitol on 9/11. However, Bush was with challenge. Ron Paul, a congressman from Texas, ran on a libertarian-right platform, but in the end, Bush would win narrowly, and keep Dick Cheney on as Vice President.

 George W. Bush
 None

### Democratic Primaries:

There were plenty of candidates seeking the nomination in 2004, the main ones were Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, and the eventual winner, Georgia Senator Jimmy Carter, who would name Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.

 Jimmy Carter
(1997-2005)
 Fighting for You

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Republican Campaign:

Bush and Cheney knew they would likely lose the election due to their mishandling of both Iraq and 9/11 so they went after any loyal republicans, even though many had left the party after the botching of 9/11. Bush and Cheney said True Patriots would vote for them and not for Carter, who already said he would move troops out of Iraq.

### Democratic Campaign:

Carter and Biden in campaign speeches and others lambasted Bush's mishandling of 9/11 calling it "Down right treasonous." With Carter knowing of how unpopular Bush was, he also took a calculated risk, criticizing Bush's efforts to pass bills that were anti-LGBTQ+. Carter would also use prior military experience to his advantage, as he had served in the Navy for 6 years before becoming a politician. And while some would criticize Carter, most would end up agreeing with him. The risk would later prove to pay off big time for Carter.

### 9/11 and its effects:

In many ways, Bush had made an extremely bad situation in 9/11 even worse, there were 4 major accidents that happened that day. The first two were at the world trade towers in New York, two planes would crash into the buildings, then another plane hit the Pentagon, then a final plane flew into the United States Capital, killing 15 Senators. Carter lambasted Bush's handling, saying he should of called for emergency to D. C. after the attacks, Bush responded by saying he didn't know until after the Pentagon attack, which drew Bush more criticism.

### Health Care:

Bush promised to make affordable health care a key part of his Presidency, but because of his efforts focused on the war he couldn't keep his promises on health care, Carter criticized this to Paul Laxalt's infamous "No New Taxes."

### Abortion:

Carter also criticized Bush's position on abortion, saying "What if a woman is raped, or if her life is danger? How is it their fault if they want an abortion?" Bush, as usual throughout his campaign, said abortion kills unborn babies, but Carter's question would be hard to deny from anyone on either campaign trail.

### LGBTQ+ Rights:

Carter's biggest criticism of Bush other than 9/11 and the Iraq War was his stances against LGBTQ+ people, saying that his stances against them, has prevented them from being who they are on the inside, while the statement by Carter, would give controversy at first, especially in the south, he would also say that while he was supportive of LGBTQ+ Rights, he also said he was supportive of religious freedom and was not ready to legalize same-sex marriage, at least not yet, eventually, his pro-LGBTQ+ Rights stances, would be one of the biggest factors of victory.

## Results and Aftermath:

Carter would easily defeat Bush, flipping Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Iowa, Arkansas, Tennessee, and his home state of Georgia.

The first polls closed at 7:00 EST in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Vermont.

Indiana (11): Bush (R), Held

Kentucky (8): Bush (R), Held

South Carolina (8): Bush (R), Held

Georgia (15): Carter (D), Flipped

Virginia (13): Bush (R), Held

Vermont (3): Carter (D), Held

The second polls closed at 7:30 EST in the states of Ohio, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Ohio (20): Carter (D), Flipped

West Virginia (5): Bush (R), Held

North Carolina (15): Bush (R), Held

The third polls closed at 8:00 EST in the states of Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and the District of Columbia.

Oklahoma (7): Bush (R), Held

Florida (27): Carter (D), Flipped

Alabama (9): Bush (R), Held

Tennessee (11): Carter (D), Flipped

Illinois (21): Carter (D), Held

Maryland (10): Carter (D), Held

Delaware (3): Carter (D), Held

Pennsylvania (21): Carter (D), Held

New Jersey (15): Carter (D), Held

Connecticut (7): Carter (D), Held

Rhode Island (4): Carter (D), Held

Massachusetts (12): Carter (D), Held

New Hampshire (4): Carter (D), Held

Maine (4): Carter (D), Held,

District of Columbia (3): Carter (D), Held

The fourth polls closed at 8:30 EST in the states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Missouri (11): Carter (D), Flipped

Arkansas (6): Carter (D), Flipped

Mississippi (6): Bush (R), Held

The fifth polls closed at 9:00 EST in the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Texas (34): Bush (R), Held

New Mexico (5): Carter (D), Held

Arizona (10): Bush (R), Held

Kansas (6): Bush (R), Held

Nebraska (5): Bush (R), Held, Except NE-02, Carter (D), Flipped

Louisiana (9): Bush (R), Held

North Dakota (3): Bush (R), Held

South Dakota (3): Bush (R), Held

Colorado (9): Bush (R), Held

Wyoming (3): Bush (R), Held

Minnesota (10): Carter (D), Held

Wisconsin (10): Carter (D), Held

Michigan (17): Carter (D), Held

The sixth polls closed at 10:00 EST in the states of Iowa, Montana, Nevada, and Utah.

Iowa (7): Carter (D), Flipped

Montana (3): Bush (R), Held

Nevada (5): Carter (D), Held

Utah (5): Bush (R), Held

The seventh polls closed at 11:00 EST in the states of California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

California (55): Carter (D), Held

Washington (11): Carter (D), Held

Oregon (7): Carter (D), Held

Idaho (4): Bush (R), Held

The eighth and final polls closed at 12:00 in the states of Hawaii and Alaska.

Hawaii (4): Carter (D), Held

Alaska (3): Bush (R), Held

Bush would concede his defeat at 2:30 A.M. on November 3, after Carter won the state of Iowa. His Presidency would be ranked among the lowest in U.S. history. The day before Bush would leave office, Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day, would sing the song "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" outside of the White House, seemingly an angry taunt at Bush. Carter would be inaugurated as the 46th President on January 20, 2005.