James Riswick
Associate Editor
Four years ago, this country experienced the closest presidential election in its history. Besides giving the nation an important political science lesson, the 2000 election showed many the importance of the phrase “every vote counts.”
Bush
Today, it seems that the United States is on a collision course for a similarly close race with numerous states polling close to or within the margin of error. But polls are nebulous at best. In some national polls, Kerry is leading; in others Bush has the edge. Either way, the results are usually extremely close. In essence, the final outcome is still anyone’s guess and we all might be up late next Tuesday night waiting for results. And with Hawaii appearing to be too close to call, that night might be later than usual.
Kerry
With election talk going strong since the Democratic primaries began heating up about a year ago, most voters already have a good idea about who President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are, what they generally stand for and what their visions of America’s future are. No matter which side of the aisle a person might fall on, most would agree that this year’s election is one of the most important facing this country in decades. The United States and the world are much different places than they were in 2000. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the subsequent war on terror, the war in Iraq, the increasing national deficit and the struggling economy are very big, very important issues voters must consider when casting their votes in five days.
Many students have already voted thanks to absentee and early ballots. For those students, we’ve included in this special “Race to the White House 2004” section recent polling data, stories about student campaign workers and a Pepperdine “man on the street” poll to see how the election is playing out. For those who haven’t voted, we’ve included information on three California senatorial candidates, controversial Propostions 68 and 70, and a Perspectives section explaining why two students are voting for president the way they are.
Whether a voter is a Republican, a Democrat or something else, this election year has been a hard-fought and memorable race. With Election Day on Tuesday, however, the finish line is now in sight.
10-28-2004