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Making History

By Brit Hume , Fox News
Published | Updated

The latest from the Political Grapevine:

Popular vote

Of all the U.S. presidential candidates (search), President Bush has received the most votes of any in history, with nearly 59 million Americans voting for him. And that vote total is in part a function of the fact that more voters actually turned out to vote in this election than any one before.

What's more, this year's election marks the first time in 16 years that a presidential candidate won a majority of both the popular vote (search) and electoral votes.

Lull on the Left?

Reaction to President Bush's victory has been relatively calm on the American left. Barbra Streisand has said nothing. Bruce Springsteen has also been quiet. Michael Moore (search) has taken down his web site, and replaced it with just a picture of President Bush, made up of pictures of troops killed in Iraq.

And billionaire George Soros, in a message on his web site, says, "Obviously, I am distressed at the outcome of this election. I hope, but don't trust, that the second Bush administration will have learned something from the mistakes of the first."

Australians Amazed?

Meanwhile, the foreign editor of a FOX sister newspaper publication, The Australian, reacted with astonishment, saying, “George W. Bush is the most enigmatic modern president...He never looks as though he is going to win anything, and then somehow he wins everything."

Canadian Concerns

The Canadian government is warning perturbed Americans planning to move to Canada (search) after President Bush's win that they must stand in line and go through the same application procedures as any other immigrants — which can take up to a year.

The Canadian immigration ministry says, "You just can't come into Canada and say 'I'm going to stay here'...There has to be a reason why the person is coming to Canada."

Additional Analysis

A new poll in 12 key battleground states shows that when it comes to which interest groups and their ads were most effective this campaign, the anti-Kerry group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth leads the pack.

The poll, conducted by the firm Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates (search), shows that 72 percent of voters were aware of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, compared with only 49 percent who knew about the anti-Bush group MoveOn.Org.

In addition, far more voters say the Swift Boat Veterans had the most impact, than say that about any other group.

What's more, 39 percent of Bush voters say the anti-Kerry group had the most impact, while less than half that number of Kerry voters said that about the anti-Bush group.

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report