Beauty of US Polls!
By the Editor

DEMOCRATIC challenger Senator John Kerry has congratulated President Bush on his re-election for the second four year term in the White House.

He telephoned Mr Bush to felicitate him on his victory and spoke about the ‘desperate need of unity’ of the American people. Bush thanked Kerry and said that he is proud of leading this ‘amazing’ country.

Contrary to the fears that the US Presidential polls-2004 may be a repetition of the last election, which had witnessed legal wrangling, due to close contest between President Bush and Senator Kerry, the final electoral vote count from the Ohio State had sealed the fate the latter.

The whole world remained in a virtual state of awe and confusion as the two candidates were locked in 254-252 electoral vote tally till the Ohio State vote announcement.

There was a danger of political uncertainty had the Democrats opted to resort to legal process for recount of votes. It’s, however, a display of grace and commitment to democratic norms that Kerry conceded victory to President Bush without any remorse.

The beauty of the US electoral process is in Opposition candidates’ acceptance of defeat, sinking of petty party interests and calling for national unity to heal up the division emerging from the polls’ hassle in the country.

Kerry has certainly enhanced this beauty by accepting his defeat gracefully and felicitating the sitting President. This is indeed a great quality of the US as a nation, which justifies its right to be a superpower. It’s hoped that President Bush will leave the electoral bitterness behind and work for national unity and cohesion at home and peace, security and stability in the world.

The second stint will hopefully afford an opportunity to him to focus on upholding the legitimate rights of the oppressed and mitigation of the sufferings of the subjugated around the globe.

Let there, however, be no doubt that after his re-election, a greater responsibility has devolved on him to handle the US foreign policy in a mature and pragmatic manner rather than keeping the world in a state of constant fear and turmoil.

The truth is that as leader of the only superpower, he owes it to morality and humanity to create an environment of security, progress and development of the smaller and weaker nations, which are indexed as free realms in the folio of the world Atlas.●