The media hype in the USA favouring John Kerry and the Democrats had affected many in Pakistan in believing that John Kerry and the Democrats would win the elections of 2004 but they were sadly disappointed when final results came in and John Kerry conceded defeat and acknowledged that George Bush had emerged the winner and won the second term at the White House, reports UPP special correspondent Mahmudual Aziz.
The involvement of Pakistanis in observing, watching and favouring particular parties in the US elections of 2004 had been taken to new heights because of the various reports by the US Media which predicted a neck-to-neck fight and showed in exit polls, at one time, that the Democrats were winning the elections and John Kerry, the Democratic nominee had obtained last minute lead over George Bush as the counting of votes progressed through the night of November 2, 2004 in the USA.
Yet, all the predictions by the US Media proved during wrong when it emerged that George Bush had obtained a lead of over three million popular votes while the Republican party had improved its held over both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the US Senate.
The Media hype in the USA was never so far away from predicting the right outcome as in the US elections of 2004. Though CNN, Fox News, and even BBC had been very cautious in estimates and exit polls, the swing of the voters in favour of George Bush and the Republican party was not fully comprehended by the US media as also by the British Media.
In Britain, the leading economic journal, the Economist had in its issue just three days before the US polls voted in favour of John Kerry, something which has seldom been done by British newspapers, specially as responsible and popular newspaper as the Economist. The Economist vote for John Kerry proved futile.
Similarly, the predictions that the Muslim vote going against George Bush will result in victory for John Kerry also proved wrong. The fact the George Bush won three million more of the popular vote showed that the majority of the US voters went for George Bush and the Republican party.
Following the results of the US elections of 2004, there will now begin a process of soul searching and evaluation by both the US media and the media in Europe as to what was wrong with their evaluation of the outcome of the US elections, before the polls and why they had engaged in predictions and even expressing their choice of John Kerry when the actual outcome of the US elections of 2004 proved the 'Pundits' of the US and European as also British Media wrong in their predictions.
According to a survey in US, it has been said contrary to the popular belief that Muslims in the USA voted in 2004 elections against George Bush and the Republican party, the UPP Special correspondent Nadia Kamal writes from Seattle (Washington State) that quite a large number of Muslims who are now naturalised US citizen, have voted for George Bush and the Republican party in the 2004 elections.
This was in spite of the general announcement by several Muslim and Muslim-Arab Associations and groups that they would vote for John Kerry and the Democrats. The appeal by Malaysian former Premier Mahatir Mohammed urging Muslims to vote against George Bush also failed to affect the outcome of the elections.
In fact, many US Muslim voters felt it to be a mistake to alienate Bush and Republican support for Muslim countries cause and specially for Arab Palestinians and revival of Middle East peace Road and declared at the last minute on the Pacific coast they were voting for George Bush and the republicans.