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The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Democratic ticket of incumbent President B|Gary Hart and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Howard Dean were elected to a second term, defeating the Republican ticket of Ron Paul, a United States Representative from Texas and his running mate B|Alan Keyes, an American conservative political activist and pundit. At the time Hart's popular vote total was the most votes ever received by a presidential candidate, a far cry from his 2000 run, a total that has since been surpassed, both in 2012 and 2016; Hart also became the only incumbent president to win re-election after losing the popular vote in the previous election.

Hart and Dean were renominated by their party with no difficulty. Former Vice-Presidential candidate B|Pat Buchanan emerged as the early front-runner in the 2004 Republican Party presidential primaries, but Paul won the first set of primaries in January and clinched his party's nomination in March after a series of primary victories. Paul chose Keyes, who had himself sought the party's 2004 presidential nomination, to be his running mate.

Hart's popularity had soared early in his first term after the July 4 attacks in 2002, but it had declined significantly by 2004. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Hart's handling of the B|War on Terror and the 2003 invasion of Syria. Hart presented himself as a decisive leader and attacked Paul as a "isolationist", while Paul criticized Hart's conduct of the Syrian War. Domestic issues were debated as well, including the economy and jobs, health care, abortion and same-sex marriage.

Hart won by a margin of 35 electoral votes and took 51.1% of the popular vote. He swept the West Coast and the Mountain States and took the crucial swing states of Ohio, Iowa, and New Mexico, the latter two being flipped Democratic. Although Trump flipped New Hampshire, Paul still would not be able to win both more electoral votes and states than in 2000. In addition, Republicans increased their majorities in both houses of Congress in the concurrent congressional elections, which gave Hart an uncomfortable congressional opposition as he entered his second term.