It’s hard to remember now, but there was a time when the entire American political universe didn't revolve around Mar-a-Lago or social media screeds. Go back to November 2, 2004. The country was vibrating with a different kind of tension. We were three years out from 9/11, deep in the weeds of the Iraq War, and the 2004 US election results weren't just about who sat in the Oval Office—they were a referendum on a new, terrified version of America.
George W. Bush won.
He didn't just win; he became the first Republican since his father in 1988 to pull in more than 50% of the popular vote. For a while, it looked like the GOP had built a "permanent majority," as Karl Rove famously dreamed. But the numbers tell a story that's way more frantic than a simple mandate. It was a grind.
The Ground Game That Changed Everything
If you want to understand the 2004 US election results, you have to look at the dirt. This was the year of the "72-Hour Task Force." Republicans realized they got out-hustled in 2000, so they went granular. They used micro-targeting before it was a buzzword. They found people who bought Porsche SUVs or liked hunting and pounded their doors.
John Kerry, the Vietnam vet and Senator from Massachusetts, was the guy the Democrats thought could beat a "war president." He had the medals. He had the stature. But he didn't have the vibe. The Bush campaign turned Kerry’s greatest strength—his nuance—into his biggest liability. Remember "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth"? That wasn't just a random attack; it was a surgical strike on Kerry’s credibility. It worked.
The turnout was insane. Over 122 million people showed up. That was a massive jump from 2000. People weren't just voting; they were choosing sides in a cultural divorce.
Ohio: The Center of the Gravity
Everything came down to Ohio. Honestly, if about 60,000 voters in the Buckeye State had swapped sides, John Kerry would have been the 44th President.
The drama on election night was centered on those long lines in Columbus and Cleveland. Provisional ballots were the "hanging chads" of 2004. For a few hours, it felt like we were headed for a Florida 2.0. Bush ended up taking Ohio by about 118,000 votes. That gave him the 20 electoral votes he needed to cross the 270 threshold.
When the dust settled, the 2004 US election results showed Bush with 286 electoral votes to Kerry’s 251. One faithless elector in Minnesota actually voted for John Edwards (Kerry's VP) for President, but that's just a trivia footnote.
Why the "Security Gal" Mattered
There was this demographic shift people called the "Security Moms." These were suburban women who usually leaned Democratic on social issues but were scared to death of another terrorist attack. Bush won them over. He spoke in moral certainties. Kerry spoke in paragraphs. In a post-9/11 world, many voters preferred a leader who was wrong but certain over a leader who was right but complicated.
Also, the "moral values" exit poll. This is where things get spicy. A huge chunk of voters cited "moral values" as their top concern. At the time, pundits thought this was all about same-sex marriage bans, which were on the ballot in 11 states (and passed in all of them). It turns out, that was a bit of an oversimplification. "Moral values" was a catch-all for "I like this guy's character more than the other guy's."
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The Popular Vote Myth
Bush got 62,040,610 votes. Kerry got 59,028,444.
That 3-million-vote gap was a big deal for the GOP. It was supposed to be the end of the "accidental presidency" talk from 2000. Bush claimed he had "earned capital" and intended to spend it. He tried to privatize Social Security almost immediately after. It bombed. Hard.
The 2004 US election results are actually a bit of a tragedy for both parties if you look at the long tail. The GOP thought they had a roadmap for the future, but they were actually at the peak of their traditional coalition. For Democrats, the loss forced a radical rethink that eventually paved the way for a young Senator from Illinois named Barack Obama.
Those Weird Third-Party Numbers
Ralph Nader was still there, but he was a ghost of his 2000 self. He got maybe 0.4% of the vote. People were too scared of "wasting" their vote this time. The Libertarian Party, led by Michael Badnarik, didn't even crack 400,000 votes. It was a two-man cage match, pure and simple.
Taking Action: Lessons from 2004
If you're looking at these historical results to understand today's politics, stop looking at the national map and start looking at the counties. The 2004 election was the last time a Republican won a state like Virginia or Colorado in a presidential race.
- Verify the "Mandate": Whenever a politician says they have a "mandate" based on a 2% or 3% win, go back and look at 2004. Bush had the popular vote and both houses of Congress, yet his major second-term initiatives still stalled.
- Watch the Ground Game: 2004 proved that TV ads are less effective than a neighbor knocking on your door. If you're involved in a campaign, look at the "72-Hour Task Force" model.
- Respect the Swing State: Ohio isn't the bellwether it used to be (it’s much redder now), but the 2004 dynamics explain why candidates spend $100 million in places like Pennsylvania and Arizona today.
The 2004 US election results weren't just a win for the GOP; they were the last gasp of the pre-smartphone, pre-social media political era. It was the last time we fought an election primarily through 30-second TV spots and physical mailers.
To really dig into the raw data, you should check out the Federal Election Commission’s official 2004 report. It breaks down every single vote by state, and it’s a goldmine if you’re a nerd for electoral math. You can also look at the exit polling data from the Roper Center to see how different groups actually moved.
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Analyze the county-level shifts in your own state from 2000 to 2004. You’ll likely find the exact moment your hometown started trending the way it is today.