Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry conceded therace to President George W. Bush Wednesday morning.
In a speech in Boston Wednesday afternoon, Kerry said he hadspoken to Bush this morning, congratulating him on his victory andtelling him they needed to work on healing the division in thecountry.
Kerry said even when all ballots had been counted, he knew therewould not be enough votes to award him the presidency. In Ohio,officials still were counting ballots, and the race remained tooclose to call in Iowa and New Mexico.
Bush received 274 electoral votes, four more than he needed toretain his office. Kerry received 252 electoral votes. Bush alsowas victorious in the popular vote, receiving 51 percent of thevote, compared to Kerry’s 48 percent.
Bush is scheduled to speak later Wednesday afternoon.