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you're right, just over 3% isn't that big of a margin... but i think it takes on a certain significance in a Presidential Race. when you figure each major party possessed 37% of all votes on Tuesday and that at most of the electorate is committed to voting one way or the other... the campaigns are only fighting over the middle 20-25%. this magnifies any spread... 3% of the total ballots cast is actually a much larger percentage of all undecided votes that could conceivably be won by either side.
additionally, you have the 3% bolstered in significance because of the lack of 3rd party support this time around. if this election weren't so heated and Bush so polarizing... Nader may have picked up 4-5% of the total vote. Liberals were reluctant to vote Nader in hopes of unseating the President, adding to Kerry's percentage of popular vote. Even so, the President's lead was still decisive (though not overwhelming) under these conditions that would seem to favor Kerry.
Senate, like you said, big win for Republicans.
House, an increased majority but less dramatic than the Senate results.
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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
~ Winston Churchill
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