During the campaign, Bush ran as the man who was fighting to avenge the 9/11 attacks, while his fellow Republicans mocked Kerry for saying that Democratic leadership could "reduce terrorism to the level of a nuisance."
After 4 more years, the economy was in tatters, and the Iraq War was no closer to being "won" than it was on this day.
By 2016, after 8 years of Barack Obama as President, 4 years of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, and 4 years of Kerry himself as Secretary of State, Kerry had been proven correct: They have reduced terrorism, at least against American targets, at home and abroad, to the level of a nuisance.
Today, Kerry is President Joe Biden's Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, while Bush is getting a somewhat favorable reassessment: At least he wasn't as bad as Donald Trump.
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November 2, 2004, as are all modern U.S. Election Days, was a Tuesday. The baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out, so there would be no season in 2004-05. But there were 3 NBA games played:
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Houston Rockets, 87-79 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings, 107-98 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki scored 33 points.
* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 89-78 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant scored 25 points.