CRAWFORD, Texas, Nov 2 (AFP) - President George W. Bush stressed the importance of an early and decisive result in the US election as he cast his vote here Tuesday, saying the eyes of the world were on the nation.
"My hope, of course, is this election ends tonight," said Bush who had to wait 36 tense days before being declared winner of the 2000 election as Republicans and Democrats battled over the result in Florida.
"I think it's very important for it to end tonight. The world watches our great democracy function and it would be nothing better for our system for the election to be conclusively over tonight," he said.
"This election is in the hands of the people. And I feel very comfortable about that," he added after voting with his wife Laura and twin daughters at a fire station in the Texas hamlet of Crawford.
Bush said the election would be decided on the "big issues of war and peace and the economy," and underlined his claim to be a more effective commander-in-chief than his opponent.
"The issue is, who do you trust? Who do you trust to secure this country? Who do you trust to lead with firmness and steadfast resolution to protect the American people?" Bush said.
"I've got a clear view about how to lead ... We'll see what the people say. Now's the time for the people to express their will. I am confident in the judgment of the people.
"I think it's going to be me so I can go on and lead this country, bring people together, set an agenda, which will be to make sure America is secure," Bush told reporters.
Bush also sent his regards to Democratic challenger John Kerry, with whom he was neck-and-neck, saying, "I wish him all the best. He and I are in the exact same position. We have given it our all. I'm sure he is happy, like I am, the campaign has come to a conclusion."
The president then went to Ohio, a vote-rich state without which no modern-day Republican has won the White House.
Visiting a get-out-the-vote phone bank in the Ohio state capital, Columbus, Bush said he was satisfied that he had campaigned as hard as he could.
"I have made the differences as clear as possible about why I think I am the best leader for the country for the next four years," he told reporters. "We'll find out tonight what the American people think."
Four years after he watched the returns for his first presidential bid inside the Texas governor's mansion, Bush will be at the White House to see whether he has captured the 270 electoral college votes needed to win a second term.
He will be surrounded by family members, including his father, former president George Bush and mother Barbara Bush, according to campaign and White House aides.
Top aides, including senior political strategist Karl Rove and White House communications director Dan Bartlett, plan to make frequent visits to reporters toiling in the White House on election night.
Mindful of the 2000 election debacle, in which the Republican beat Al Gore only after a bitterly fought recount in Florida ended by the US Supreme Court, senior Bush aides say they are ready to do legal battle again.
"We will have a war room on the political side and a war room on the legal side. It's already operating at this point," Rove told reporters Sunday.
But Rove also sought to banish that nightmare scenario, insisting that "we'll know Tuesday night" who will be US president for the next four years.

11/02/2004 18:34 GMT - AFP