U.S. presidential election, 2004

The next U.S. presidential election is scheduled to occur November 2, 2004. After the formality of a meeting of the U.S. Electoral College, the winner will be inaugurated President on January 20, 2005.

For the individual presidential campaigns of the two major candidates, see George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004 and John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004

The entire House of Representatives and approximately one-third of the Senate are also elected. See the U.S. House election, 2004 and the U.S. Senate election, 2004 for more information.

Table of contents

1 Presidential candidates by political party 1.1 Republican Party 1.2 Democratic Party 1.3 Libertarian Party 1.4 Green Party 1.5 Constitution Party 1.6 Independent (not affiliated with any party) 2 Timeline 3 Electoral College changes from 2000 4 External links and references 4.7 Election video archive 4.8 Election 2004 link directories 4.9 Election analysis 4.10 Election 2004 global debate and voting 4.11 Election news wires 4.12 News articles 4.13 Election campaign funding 5 Table

Presidential candidates by political party

On March 9, 2004 U.S. President George W. Bush of Texas officially clinched the number of delegates needed to be nominated at the August 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. Should something happen to Bush before or after the convention, the Republican National Committee would most likely be the main body involved in choosing an alternative nominee.
Bush has publicly stated that he will select Vice President Dick Cheney as the Vice Presidential nominee again in 2004. Because of casualties in Iraq, most notably the death of several contractors in Fallujah, Iraq, Bush is decreasing in the polls. This may lead to a Kerry victory.
See George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004 and U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination, 2004

Democratic Party

On March 11, 2004, after meetings with Democratic superdelegates in Washington and with former opponents Howard Dean and John Edwards, U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts accumulated the 2,162 delegates required to clinch the nomination. Kerry is now officially acknowledged as the nominee by the Democratic National Committee website.
If something happens to Mr. Kerry before or after the convention, the Democratic National Committee will likely be the main body involved in choosing an alternate nominee - most likely Mr. Kerry's Vice Presidential running mate. Mr. Kerry and his running mate will be formally nominated by the Democratic Party at the July 2004 Democratic National Convention in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts.
See John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004 for more on Mr. Kerry's platform and U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination, 2004, for more information on the campaigns of other Democratic candidates in 2004.

Libertarian Party

The candidate will be chosen by delegates to the Libertarian Party National Convention on May 30, 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia. The candidates debate each other at various state Libertarian Party conventions leading up to the national convention. The debate held at the Libertarian Party of California convention (this year March 12-14 in San Jose) is normally aired by C-SPAN. State parties often conduct non-binding straw polls following their debate and may then vote to endorse a candidate. However, delegates to the national convention may vote freely for the candidate of their choice.

• Filed:
  • Gary Nolan, Talk radio host
  • Michael Badnarik, former State House candidate from Texas
  • Aaron Russo, Emmy and Tony award-winning producer
• Withdrew:
  • Clyde Cleveland, former candidate for Governor of Iowa (withdrew February 2004)
  • David Hollist, from California
  • Ken Krawchuk, former candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania (withdrew April 2003)
• Declined:
  • James Gray, presiding Superior Court Judge, Orange County, California
  • Carla Howell, former candidate for Governor and U.S. Senate from Massachusetts
  • Gary E. Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico
  • Ed Thompson, former Mayor of Tomah, Wisconsin

The candidate will be chosen by delegates committed during the primaries to the Green Party National Convention on June 25, 2004 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

• Announced:
  • Carol Miller, campaigner for Native American rights, New Mexico
  • David Cobb, legal advisor to the party and former candidate for Texas attorney general
  • Dr. Kent P. Mesplay, biologist and air quality specialist, California
  • Lorna Salzman, environmental activist, New York
  • Paul Glover, creator of Ithaca Hours, former mayoral candidate from Ithaca, New York
  • Dr. Jonathan Farley, mathematics professor, former Congressional candidate, Tennessee
• Declined:
  • Peter Camejo, recent California gubernatorial candidate. Camejo advocates that the Green Party endorse Ralph Nader for President. He has, however, consented for his name to be placed on state primary ballots, in order to "be able to vote for delegates that go uncommitted to the national convention so that we can figure out what is best for the party in June."[1]
  • Cynthia McKinney, former Congresswoman from Georgia
  • Ralph Nader, consumer rights advocate and 1996 and 2000 nominee. Nader announced that he would run as an independent on February 22, 2004. In March, 2004, Nader stated that he will accept the "endorsement" but not the "nomination" of the Green Party, as well of other minor parties.
  • Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys and candidate for the 2000 nomination
  • Joel Kovel, New York, runner-up candidate for the 2000 nomination

• Announced:
  • Michael Anthony Peroutka
• Declined:
  • Roy Moore, former Alabama Chief Justice (January 24, after speaking to a Constitution Party meeting)

• Announced:
  • Ralph Nader, consumer rights advocate and 1996 and 2000 Green Party nominee

Electoral College changes from 2000

With the completion of the 2000 census, Congressional re-apportionment took place, moving some representative districts from the slowest growing states to the fastest growing. As a result, some states will send a different number of electors to the U.S. Electoral College, since the number of electors allotted to a state is equal to the sum of the number of Senators and Representatives from that state. Since the results were so close in 2000, this could potentially impact the outcome of the 2004 election.

The following table shows the change in electors from the 2000 election. Red states represent those that Bush won in 2000 and blue states Gore won. All the states listed use a winner-take-all allocation of electors. The net change is a 14 electoral vote advantage for the Red states.

Arizona (+2) California (+1) Colorado (+1) Connecticut (-1) Florida (+2) Georgia (+2) Illinois (-1) Indiana (-1) Michigan (-1)

Mississippi (-1) Nevada (+1) New York (-2) North Carolina (+1) Ohio (-1) Oklahoma (-1) Pennsylvania (-2) Texas (+2) Wisconsin (-1)

External links and references

Election video archive

• Internet Archive's Election 2004 archive has lots of freely downloadable movies

• Better World Links on the U.S. Presidential Election 2004 with 1500+ Links
• E-Democracy.US Election 2004 Links
• Open Directory Project Presidential Campaign 2004 category
• Yahoo 2004 Presidential Election
• LookSmart US Presidential Election 2004

• President Elect: swing-state analysis, electoral vote estimates
• Estimated odds of various election outcomes
• Analysis of misleading advertising from both Bush and Kerry

• The world votes

• Associated Press Presidential Elections
• BBC Vote USA 2004
• CNN America Votes 2004
• The Guardian US Elections 2004
• The Washington Post Election 2004 coverage
• Yahoo News Election 2004

• Green Party considers 2004 strategy - MSNBC, July 2003

• 2004 Center for Responsive Politics compiles data about who gives and who receives
• Money Maps