In the flood of congratulations the White House received after President George W. Bush's re-election, one salutation might have symbolic and immediate significance to the future of U.S. foreign policy and the future of the Middle East.

Updated 11/5/04 10:31 AM
President Bush appeared headed for victory tonight in an election that has polarized the country, confounded the experts and raised deep concerns about the integrity of the voting system itself.
Bush picked up the key state of Florida and appeared victorious in Ohio, all but ensuring four more years of his presidency. Republicans also had reason for celebration as it looked like the party picked up seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Updated 11/2/04 11:33 PM
A landslide victory in Illinois by U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama did little to lessen Democrats' anxiety, as Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle fell 6,000 votes behind Republican John Thune with 91 percent of South Dakota precincts reporting. A Thune win would further solidify the Republicans' control of the Senate, which seemed to be strengthening as returns came in throughout the night.

Updated 11/02 10:44 PM
ALASKA -- In Alaska, where one of the most hotly contested Senate races of 2004 is still unfolding, incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski pulled out a surprising lead over former Gov. Tony Knowles.

Not only in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio are people anxious to know who will be the next U.S. president. Thousand of miles away — in places like Pakistan, North Korea, Iraq, Iran and the Middle East — leaders and citizens know that the outcome of today’s election will have a substantial effect on their lives.

Through the use of previously obscure groups known as 527s, more money will be spent on this year’s presidential election than any previous race, and California donors are high on the list of top donors.

Chicago Democrat Barack Obama overwhelmed his Republican rival, Alan Keyes, becoming the third African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.

As pundits proclaim today’s election the most important in a generation, some of President Bush’s strongest critics on the Left are quietly wondering whether their cause might actually be strengthened if Bush is reelected.

OAKLAND -- Christina Cummings, 15, said she started working with New Voters are Rising, a nonpartisan voter registration project, because her mom signed her up. All summer she strolled the Bay Area malls, canvassed at events like the UniverSoul Circus and walked Oakland's precincts registering citizens to vote.

SAN FRANCISCO -- In what looked like a scene from the 1960s, several hundred people gathered at an anti-war rally at Lowell High School October 20. Against the backdrop of an exhibit commemorating thousands of dead soldiers and civilians, veterans and military moms talked about the horrors of combat while students signed an anti-war petition and called themselves the "social conscience of society."

SAN FRANCISCO -- On his wedding day, Jim Maloney thought he was going to a gay rights protest at City Hall. Instead, he and Andrew Nance, his partner of 15 years, went home with a marriage license. The pair was one of nearly 4,000 to receive a license last winter when Mayor Gavin Newsom began marrying same-sex couples.

OAKLAND -- On the last Friday evening before the election in Oakland's Chinatown, the streets looked deserted. Shopkeepers had already brought in the produce that lined the sidewalks earlier in the day.

OAKLAND -- When Arthur O'Neal first came to Oakland from rural Arkansas in 1959, California was full of surprises. The Spanish names were new to him — he pronounced Vallejo as "Valley-Joe." He went from making $6 a week on a farm back home to $1.75 an hour on a garbage truck here. And in 1960, at the age of 31, he voted for the first time.