Editor's Note: Missed it by this much--again

Everyone remain calm.

As we went to press Wednesday morning, Sen. John Kerry conceded the election to President Bush.

For hours before the Democratic candidate's concession call, the fate of the race was up in the air. It was possible that the counting of more than 130,000 provisional ballots--which could take several days--would be required to officially declare a winner. And if that wasn't agonizing enough, if it got really close, Ohio could face a time-consuming recount, a process that could resurrect the infamous hanging chad issue.

Just as in 2000, the contest had come down to a relative handful of votes in one state. It was Florida four years ago. This year it was Ohio. But unlike 2000, it wasn't as close in that pivotal state this time. The arithmetic strongly suggested the provisional vote tally could not put Kerry over the top. Kerry obviously came to the conclusion Wednesday morning that he could not win Ohio.

Bush's re-election surely is tough for most Democrats to stomach, but let's not get too depressed about it. It shouldn't be seen as some sort of knockout blow. Rather than moping around, we should begin building on the solid foundation created by the Kerry campaign. Consider this: The Democrats need to increase their nationwide support by about 2 percent in order to win the presidency in 2008. That seems doable.

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This may sound like deja vu--the same observation was made four years ago--but nonetheless: What struck me as the presidential election results filtered in Tuesday evening was the map showing red and blue states: red states won by President Bush, blue states won by Sen. John Kerry.

The red states largely encompass the nation's flyover country, also known as the heartland. In terms of square-mileage, Bush was favored by an overwhelming majority of the country. But the red/blue map visuals were misleading, because the vote count is based on population, not geography. Kerry's dominance along the highly urbanized coasts and, to a lesser extent, in the upper Midwest, made the race a lot closer than the television graphics suggested.

There has been endless talk of a polarized nation, and it's unquestionably true. But what's interesting to me is that the polarization breaks down primarily between urban and rural, and between the coasts and middle America. And what's even more interesting is that middle America has had the upper hand for two elections straight.

That is not the common perception. The conventional wisdom is that urban America--New York and Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, Boston and Seattle--runs the country. The major entertainment and news media--so influential in modern times--emanate from these cities. These are our centers of commerce and culture, the places where trends are born.

But the past two presidential elections make clear that rural America--or, if not exactly rural, at least not metropolitan--retains its grip on that most important of institutions: the federal government.

It's not quite that simple, of course, but there's no question that President Bush's conservatism and downhome demeanor play better in the heartland, while Kerry's sophisticated liberalism finds more favor in the cities.

It was clear to me that Kerry was the smarter candidate with better ideas to improve the lives of the American people and, yes, to deal with international affairs. I see Bush as a buffoon who has botched the Iraq war, rewarded and protected his corporate pals and done nothing to boost the economy.

But guess what, slightly more than half the voters didn't see Bush that way. Apparently they like the guy and his "values," or at least they think he's doing a good enough job to give him another four years.

People didn't listen to the movie stars, pop singers and liberal pundits who campaigned for Kerry. Bruce Springsteen, popular and respected as he is, couldn't lift Kerry into the White House. And they didn't listen to the high-profile authors and documentary filmmakers who blistered Bush's record from every possible angle. In fact, a case could be made that the very fact that these media darlings endorsed Kerry might have nudged a few undecided voters to go the other way.

People, in short, made up their own minds, and even though I strongly disagree with their reasoning, I respect their independence. I am part and parcel of the American media, yet I find myself feeling a little pleased that people don't make such important decisions based on whether their favorite musician or movie star is on the bandwagon. And I smile at the fact that New York, Los Angeles and Chicago don't yet have a stranglehold on the country.

The challenge for the near future is to figure out how to bridge the gap between the red and blue states. Kerry and Bush obviously haven't been able to figure it out.

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At 10:08 p.m. Tuesday, KLAS Channel 8 declared President Bush the winner. It was an embarrassing blunder. In fact, at that point Bush had merely won Alaska--no surprise--but not the whole enchilada. Moments later, veteran anchor Paula Francis apologized profusely. In light of the 2000 election night fiasco, how could something like that happen?

Speaking of media gaffes, the exit polls were a joke. All day, exit poll numbers streaming on Slate.com and other websites showed Kerry winning. Obviously this practice, once a worthwhile prognostication tool, has to be junked.

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In case you were wondering about the quirkiest result in Tuesday's election, a contender for the crown has to be the resurrection of crack-smoking former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, who won a seat on the District Council. No second acts in American lives, you say?

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A few silver linings for Nevada Democrats. Kerry lost here, but by a fairly thin margin (20,000 votes). Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley won handily, building their power bases. South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle's loss puts Reid in position to become Senate minority leader. The Democrats gained four seats in the state Assembly and one in the state Senate. The ballot question to raise the minimum wage received strong support. This is a solid foundation on which to build a progressive-minded agenda in Nevada.

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Bush's victory spawns ominous thoughts about the fate of Yucca Mountain. Many Nevadans obviously don't care much about the issue, as they re-elected Bush knowing full well that he supports the nuclear waste dump. This, no doubt, has not gone unnoticed by Bush political advisers and allies. Rep. Shelley Berkley told a Democratic Party rally last Friday that if Bush were to win, she could not stop Yucca Mountain. This was heated campaign rhetoric aimed at getting out the vote, but one has to wonder: Despite the legal and environmental obstacles standing in the way of Yucca Mountain, will Bush ramp up efforts to ram it down Nevada's throat? Bet on it.

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Congrats to Assemblyman Tom Collins, whom I've known for many years, on his election to the County Commission. But I worry. Tom is an honest, forthright, regular guy who doesn't cotton to the backroom shenanigans for which the commission is notorious. He will be an asset to the commission as long as he doesn't get caught in the sticky webs spun by crafty casino execs, devilish developers and his fellow commissioners.

--GEOFF SCHUMACHER