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How do you feel about the win for President Bush?

Thu 4 Nov 2004 06.53 EST
William Shawcross

"I think it's a very good decision. My view of this election is a one-issue view, although I don't feel that anybody from the outside should interfere with anybody's election.

"I have been in Iraq a bit recently and I did think from that point of view that Bush's re-election would be important for the future of Iraq. When I was there, the Iraqis I met worried lest he might lose.

"The continuity and commitment to the development of the infrastructure of Iraq is important. I felt Kerry didn't have ownership of the issue. He said it was the wrong war in the wrong time in the wrong place. I didn't think it was very likely someone like that was committed to seeing it through and helping Iraqis rebuild Iraqi society. It's very hard and it's a very long process and I don't think Bush has got a magic wand but he's got more commitment to it than Kerry."

Corin Redgrave Actor and activist

"I feel quite depressed. On the whole I take comfort from the fact that there are rather a lot of us feeling it. I think it is far worse than any of us realise as yet. It's not just a mandate to continue with what they are doing but for something much, much worse which has only been partially described to the electorate. The single most recurring topic among the heads of the Republican party is Iraq and it doesn't take much to imagine how things could get much worse.

"I think we in Britain should consider very carefully to what extent Tony Blair is responsible for this. During one of the presidential debates Kerry was talking about the way in which Washington politics had isolated America from the rest of the world and Bush shot back with a remark something like 'he seems to have forgotten Tony Blair'. You simply cannot overestimate the extent to which Blair's support has underpinned this presidency throughout."

Rose Gentle Mother of Fusilier Gordon Gentle, 19, who died in Basra on June 28

"I am sick, totally sick. All I can say is God help other soldiers because we know what Bush is going to do. He is just going to send more in and the next place he is going to hit, it's going to be Falluja, then somewhere else after that. The man is just going to continue and he is going to take the war elsewhere.

"The ones that voted for him are just as bad. I bet none of their families is in Iraq. I think this will go on for years. We want Blair to pull our boys out but he won't. He is to blame for Bush being re-elected.

"The way those two keep in contact and he gives Bush support, they even put the exact same words in their statements. We need to get rid of Blair. The whole thing makes me sick."

Andrew Roberts Rightwing historian and leading pro-Bush hawk

"Needless to say, I am thrilled. I could not believe that a great people like the Americans would cashier their commander in chief in the opening stages of a great struggle such as the war on terror. He has now got an increased mandate from, among others, the voters in Clark County, Ohio, and I look forward to renewed neo-conservative efforts in the future."

Tracey Emin Artist

"I am in Los Angeles at the moment and I don't understand it. I have asked every taxi driver and every waiter I have come across and they all said they didn't know who they would vote for. They said they didn't like Kerry because he was too wishy washy and wasn't up to the job. I said, 'You know Bush isn't up to the job,' and they said, 'But he has got to finish Iraq'."

"I was out last night and I was with some friends I knew, including Val Kilmer, and they looked as if they were going to start crying. It's an overall landslide for Bush, which is really bizarre.

"This is a really bad thing for those Americans who are anti-war because people will assume that all of America is totally gung ho.

"I just think there's going to be more terrorism and more war. I said to my friends that I am glad I have seen them now because who wants to come to a country that has that much hatred."

Harold Pinter Playwright and anti-war campaigner

"It's a black day for the world."