Breaking News from NewsMax.com

Kerry Concedes Missouri

Sen. John Kerry lost his battle to make Missouri a battleground state.

While the Democrat and President Bush still have legions of supporters working in the state, Missouri hasn't been a focus of television advertising or candidate visits for weeks. Polls suggest that with the race close nationally Bush leads in Missouri; Kerry's only chance of winning the state is if he takes the national popular vote by several percentage points, strategists in both parties say. [More below...]




The road to the White House normally runs through Missouri, a state that has sided with the winner in every election but one -- 1956 -- for the past century. Bush won the state by 4 percentage points in 2000.

Kerry sought to put Missouri and its 11 electoral votes into play. His campaign spent $5.8 million and the Democratic National Committee spent $1.7 million before Labor Day.

Missouri has been growing more with each election cycle. Four years ago, Bush won a majority of independent voters and took advantage of the state's anti-tax sentiments. Nearly half of the state's voters identify themselves as "born again" or evangelical Christian.