For as much as President George W. Bush and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry have said the nation has transformed since 2000, the country looked like it had not changed a bit Tuesday night.

Much like the 2000 election, neither Bush nor Kerry could be declared the winner in the presidential election as of press time Wednesday morning. Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore in 2000 after a contentious 36-day legal battle.

For much of Tuesday night, states fell as predicted. Blue states in 2000 came up blue again, red states followed in suit, and for hours it appeared 2004 would unerringly follow the script 2000 established.

The swing states lived up to their name: Pennsylvania and Minnesota went for Kerry while Florida and Nevada fell for Bush. New Hampshire fell into Kerry’s column, and New Mexico — although officially unannounced — appeared slightly in Bush’s favor at press time.

And then there was Ohio, which, taking a cue from the Sunshine State four years ago, failed to produce a clear winner Tuesday night. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bush held a small lead in the Buckeye State, but Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell announced a large number of absentee and provisional votes remained unaccounted for.

In a statement released early Wednesday morning, Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill refused to concede victory in Ohio.

“There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted,” Cahill wrote. “We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio.”

Jessi Schober, chair of UW Students for Bush, said Ohio would side with the incumbent.

“We’re feeling good and eagerly awaiting a finish,” Schober said Wednesday morning.

With Bush leading the electoral vote count, a Republican victory in Ohio would ensure the president four more years in the White House. A Kerry victory would put Wisconsin, New Mexico and Iowa, all undetermined at press time, into play.

With memories of the erroneous projections television networks made in Florida in 2000 fresh in their minds, broadcasters displayed a cautious nature when making predictions throughout the night, UW emeritus professor of political science Charles O. Jones said.

The networks differed in Ohio, however, as Fox News and NBC declared the state for Bush. Others held back, finding the race too close to call.

With the numbers narrowly in favor of Bush, Schober said the Kerry campaign should accept its fate.

“The only chance for a Kerry win will come through a horde of lawyers,” she said. “I see it as a Bush victory.”

High turnout marked the day, a trend many viewed as benefiting Kerry. But Bush’s strong performance seemed to suggest Republicans could play the get-out-the-vote game as well, Jones said.

“Clearly the Republican strategy was to match the Democratic increase in turnout by going after strong Republican areas,” Jones said. “They were very successful in doing that in Florida.”

While the electoral vote remains in question, President Bush has a clear advantage in the popular vote, unlike 2000, where Al Gore bested the Texas governor. Should Bush prevail, Jones said the public should accept Bush’s victory better than the last election cycle due to the margin of victory in the overall popular vote.

Results were clearer in other federal races, with Republicans adding to their majorities in the House and Senate. In the hotly contested Senate race in South Dakota, no winner had been declared, but Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle trailed Republican John Thune, 49 percent to 51 percent, at press time.