Page 62 - Clearwater Christian College 2005

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ll£>£31i:;jjIJ£>ET senator John F. Kerry was the Demo­

cratic nominee for President because his party saw him

as the popular choice; he had served in the Senate since

1985 and was awarded the Silver Star; Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts

for combat action in Vietnam. Educated at Yale University, Kerry married

Theresa Heinz Kerry, heir to the Heinz empire. He chose John R. Edwards,

North Carolina U.S. Senator since 1999, and former competitor during the

democratic primary, as his running mate.

Edwards has been a practicing attorney since

1977 and has made a name for himself by win­

ning million dollar cases. Some Republicans

worried about election day results because polls

taken after the three debates indicated that

Kerry had “won” the first two, and Bush had

not regained the lead he had “lost.” Brian

58 Johnson said, “I never thought the election

would be close like the 2000 election. I was not expecting a long drawn out

0) process in the courts and thought the chances of the race being that close
c
>1 again were slim. I did get discouraged the day of the election when the

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early exit polls came in that Kerry was winning. I had taken a vacation day
E

n> <D and was working for the Republicans all day. From about 3:00 to 5:00
n A
<u

N
o 1— p.m., I was holding up signs on US 19 but was very discouraged, thinking
3 □ we had done all of this work for nothing. I must admit that I was a nervous
on

wreck until the returns started coming in. I kept praying and praying that I

would be able to accept the outcome no matter what it was. The early ‘real’

returns started coming in soon after 7:00 p.m. The early states reporting

looked good, and it reminded me of the early returns during the first elec­

tion of Ronald Reagan. The first county to finish counting in Florida was

Citrus County. I checked the statistics of Citrus County in the 2000 elec­

tion. Bush won that county by 52% that year. This year he won Citrus by

57%. When I saw that comparison, I started feeling much (cont. on p. 60)

"If you believe that

government should

be accountable to

the people, not the

people to the gov- I

ernment, then you

I
are a Republican! If

you believe a person

should be treated as

an individual, not as '

»
a member of an interest group, then you

are a Republican!.. If you believe this

country, not the United Nations, is the best

Vice President VP Nominee Chris Carver Dr. Condoleezza hope of democracy in the world, then you

Dick Cheney John Edwards Laura Caughill Rice are a Republican! And, ladies and

Tim Johnson gentlemen, if you believe we must be

Andrew Larsen fierce and relentless and terminate

terrorism, then you are a Republican!"

-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger