[Anderson Cooper:] Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper. The president remains the president, and Republicans are in full control. 360 starts now. President Bush declares victory, John Kerry concedes. But what happens now? Can the country come together, or does a Republican mandate mean we split apart even more? The Senate, the House, and the White House, how the Republicans mopped up in Washington, and how the Democrats got it so wrong. Gay marriage, partial birth abortion, how the White House appealed to evangelicals, and why the Democrats couldn't capture the moral values vote. Tonight we go 360 with the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Jerry Falwell. Bruised and battered, where does the Democratic Party go from here? Tonight, Ralph Nader and Al Sharpton square off on who the Democrats are and what they should stand for.
[Announcer:] Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
[Cooper:] And a good evening to you. Welcome to the mother of all political mornings-after. Did you awake gleeful or glum, red or blue, vindicated or crushed? The results show Mr. Bush got more than 59 million votes to Mr. Kerry's 55.4 million. So there are a whole lot of Americans who got what they wanted, and then nearly as many that didn't at all. Which means that one of the following is guaranteed either to make you cheer or chill your blood. George W. Bush, the once and future president, made a victory speech this afternoon a couple hours after John F. Kerry, the president's Democratic challenger, conceded he had lost. We'll be reporting all the angles tonight, victory and what it may mean, and defeat and what it may mean. Standing by in Washington is John King, and in Boston, Candy Crowley. To John King at the White House first. John?
[John King, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Anderson, this time last night, it was a worried White House. Now they're working on a new budget, the State of the Union, an international trip, four more years.
[King:] No recount, and no doubt about the winner this time. A rowdy Republican celebration, but also an attempt to set a new tone for a second term.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] So today I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it.
[King:] But make no mistake, the victors seek bipartisanship, but on their terms, and believed a clear majority of the popular vote and bigger Republican margins in Congress give them the upper hand.
[Dick Cheney, Vice President Of The United States:] President Bush ran forthrightly on a clear agenda for this nation's future, and the nation responded by giving him a mandate.
[King:] Celebration on this day, talk of cooperation will be tested early in the new term.
[Ken Duberstein, Former Reagan Chief Of Staff:] They'll be campaigning for the history books, for a legacy.
[King:] The Iraq war still divides the parties, as does a second term agenda that includes tax simplification, health care changes Democrats say fall short, and revamping Social Security.
[Bush:] I see a great day coming for our country, and I am eager for the work ahead.
[King:] Senior Bush aides believe the first partisan dustup could come within weeks. Chief Justice William Rehnquist has cancer, and the White House is quietly preparing to name a successor. And cabinet and staff turnover is in the works after a first term noteworthy for stability at the top.
[Duberstein:] I think there will be, in fact, wholesale changes in a second Bush administration.
[King:] Gone is the legitimacy debate of 2000, when Mr. Bush won the White House but lost the popular vote.
[Bush:] The voters turned out in record numbers and delivered an historic victory.
[King:] It was dramatic turnaround. Early exit polls spooked the White House. And as Mr. Bush watched the votes come in, Ohio met expectations, a nail-biter, and the decisive state. Mr. Bush went to bed at 5:00, confident of reelection. Six hours later, a telephone call in the Oval Office. It was Senator Kerry calling to concede. Mr. Bush says he was extraordinarily gracious. That phone call sealing Mr. Bush's reelection and making clear that unlike his father, he will get a second term, Anderson.
[Cooper:] He certainly will. John King, thanks for that. On now to the flip side of victory, because, of course, for every winner there must be at least one loser. And so to Boston, and a report from senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. Candy?
[Candy Crowley, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Anderson, in the wee hours of this morning, members of the Kerry campaign got together and began to make phone calls. They say they talked to Republicans and Democrats on the ground in Ohio, trying to figure out if there was any way mathematically that John Kerry could pull out the state. In the end, around 9:30 in the morning, they figured there was no way, so Mary Beth Cahill, the campaign manager, called John Kerry to say, Even if we won all the votes, the margin of Bush's victory is too big. Kerry talked about it for some time with his running mate, John Edwards. They then decided it was time to call the president and concede, which John Kerry did, and then he went over to Faneuil Hall to talk to his supporters, most of them in tears, giving a very emotional address, some, a side of John Kerry we have not seen before.
[Sen. John Kerry, Democratic Presidential Nominee:] I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail, but it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, which they will be, there won't be enough outstanding votes for us to be able to win Ohio. And therefore, we cannot win this election.
[Crowley:] ... many believe was one of John Kerry's finest moments, by telling his supporters that the votes weren't there, he was trying to tap down any kind of challenge that the vote was somehow fraudulent, to move the country forward. Aides say that's what he wanted to do, it's what he talked about with President Bush in that phone conversation. What's ahead for John Kerry, he has four more years as the junior senator from Massachusetts. He promised his supporters that he would keep faith with them on the issues that he know means something to them, and also said to them, Anderson, that he would not forget the days that he spent on the rope line and the people who invested their hopes in him. It's like a lot of other people who run for presidency, they go to change the country, and they wind up finding out that the country changes them, Anderson.
[Cooper:] Candy Crowley, thanks very much. Long campaign. Thanks, Candy. In addition to the White House victory, Republicans gained more power in the House and the Senate, landed a bruising punch to the Democrats at the same time. The stinger, Senate minority leader Tom Daschle, has lost to Republican John Thune. Daschle is the first Senate party leader in more than 50 years to face defeat. Hours ago this man, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, announced he has enough support among his colleagues to become the new minority leader. Now, here's a look at the new balance of power in the Senate. The GOP has 55 seats after victories in North Dakota, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana, Democrats now have 44 seats, the independent party one. In the House, Republicans control 231 seats, an extra four, Democrats 200, independents 1. Now, three races still undecided, just too close to call. Voters decided on much more than a president and members of Congress, of course. In 34 states, 163 measures were also on the ballots. The hottest issue, gay marriage, a clean sweep. Voters have approved a ban on same-sex marriage andor civil unions in all 11 states it appear on the ballot. Opponents are considering legal challenges. In California, stem cell research approved by a 59 to 41 percent margin. Voters have backed a measure to pay out $3 billion over 10 years to fund the research. Proposition 71 was supported by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor also asked voters to oppose a measure to weaken the state's three-strikes measure. They listened. Fifty-five percent voted no, 47 yes. The governor said the measure would set free thousands of serious criminals who were already in jail. Meanwhile, Alaskans voted against legalizing pot, while voters in Oregon opted not to expand the state's medical marijuana laws. Montana, however, became the 10th state to approve medical marijuana. So you talk about stark divisions. Now, if we were discussing a marriage instead of the electorate, we would be using the phrase, irreconcilable differences, if I can even pronounce that. CNN senior well, it's been a long night. CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us to paint a picture of exactly who voted in this race and how. Bill?
[William Schneider, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Well, there are groups that George Bush made big breakthroughs with, and one of them was women. Women in 2000 voted for Al Gore over George W. Bush by 11 points. Let's look at how women voted this time. A bare margin for John Kerry. He beat George Bush among women by just 3 points, particularly because George Bush did very well with married women, those so-called security moms. A second group Bush made breakthroughs with, Latino voters around the country. He got 44 percent of the Latino vote. No Republican presidential candidate ever has gotten above 40 percent among Latino voters. That's a fast-growing group, and a major breakthrough. One group he did not make a big breakthrough with was African- Americans. He got 9 percent of black voters last time, a little bit better this time, 11 percent, but no big gains. Now, white evangelical voters were, of course, the Republican Party base. They delivered nicely, four to one, or nearly four to one, for Bush over Kerry. But the important thing is, their participation in the election went up a little bit from about 15 to 20 percent of the voters this time. So they paid off also. And a group a lot of people were talking about, young voters, 18- to 29-year-olds. They voted 54 to 45 for Kerry. They are the only age group that voted for Kerry. The rest of the electorate did not vote for Kerry. They were 17 percent of the electorate. Now, is that a
[Cooper:] Fascinating. All that talk about young voters pouring out to the polls I guess didn't happen, or at least not in the different percentage
[Schneider:] That's right. They poured out to the polls, but the issue was, everyone else did too. Sure.
[Cooper:] Some breaking news now. There have been conflicting reports for the last hour or so about the health of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who was airlifted out of his West Bank compound, you see it here, last week for emergency medical treatment in Paris. Following reports by an Israeli newspaper and Israeli television, the Associated Press and Reuters are now saying that Mr. Arafat's condition has deteriorated. Yet a Palestinian source close to Arafat tells CNN that is not the case, while another acknowledged Arafat's condition remained, quote, "difficult." We, of course, are going to be following this story throughout the evening, throughout this next hour. We'll bring you any updates as warranted. This could be a fast-changing story. Coming up next next on 360, what did the Democrats do wrong and the Republicans do so right? Paul Begala, Tucker Carlson go 360 in the "CROSSFIRE." Also tonight, God and the GOP. Why do so many voters seem to believe the Republicans are the party of God? We go 360 with Jerry Falwell and Jesse Jackson. Plus, Democrats, those still standing, are trying to figure out where to go from here. Ahead, Ralph Nader and Al Sharpton join us live to talk over the options. All that ahead. First, let's take a look at your picks, the most popular stories on CNN.com right now.