Following George W Bush's re-election as America's president, Sally Jones gauges the reactions to the result of Americans living in Worcestershire

THE presidential race is over and "Dubya" is back in power, but did anyone really expect anything different?

The US electorate appeared to decide that security and consistent leadership in a time of war and terrorism was more important than the new direction most say they want.

They felt challenger John Kerry wasn't the right man to lead them in the next four years

As one Worcestershire-based American put it, he was "playing the field on both sides".

"I felt Kerry was playing the middle of the road approach to try and get more votes," said Worcester Wolves basketball star Josh Cooprider.

"I didn't feel like he was sticking to what he believed in, more changing to what the voters wanted to hear."

Perhaps that was the problem. It wasn't that Bush was a strong candidate, more that Kerry was a weak challenger. And, in America, there's no place for the weak.

"I wasn't excited about either candidate really," said Josh, who's called Worcester home for the past three years.

"But I realised that my vote counts and I went for Bush. It thought it was better for the country not to change directions at this time."

At least 55 million voters would disagree. They've watched the war on Iraq with mounting concern, and were desperate for a change of direction under Kerry.

Instead, in an America divided by months of vigorous campaigning, they're dreading the prospect of another four years under Bush.

"Bush has been a disaster," said Linda Hart, of Lower Wych Road, Malvern Wells, who watched with intrigue to see who'd become hold the reins as the world's most powerful man for the next four years.

Although she gave up her American citizenship to become a British citizen in 1993, she criticizes Bush for "saying he was going to use restraint in foreign policy and, in fact, he's been terribly confrontational.

"America was peaceful and he has led the country into war, not only with Iraq, but into diplomatic wars with other nations, such as France."

No one can deny that the bitterly-fought election aroused strong feelings across America and the rest of the world, and that it prompted one of America's biggest turn-outs in history.

One man who wasn't persuaded to join them was Worcester Wolves player-coach Rick Solvason. He didn't vote.

"I didn't know enough about Kerry's policies to vote for him, but I was a bit leery of Bush, from all I've heard and read about him," he said.

"My knee-jerk response after 9/11 was 'Go get whoever did it'. But I'm not convinced the war in Iraq was specifically aimed at terrorists, or whether there were ulterior motives.

"I would have needed some convincing to vote for Bush - although it might have been a case of the lesser of two evils."

Students of American Studies at the University College Worcester have been monitoring the elections closely.

"It's been a very interesting time and students have been very divided," said Prof Scott Lucas, a native of Alabama, and Professor of American Studies at the University of Birmingham, who tonight was due to give a special academic seminar examining the impact of the presidential election on the future direction of US foreign policy at Birmingham University.

"They've been looking into how Bush and Kerry were received by the public in America and around the world. Now they'll be looking into how a Bush administration will affect the world.

"We had seminars and discussion sessions and a lot of the students were leaning more towards Kerry. It's definitely been an interesting election."

The Bush-Kerry battle has highlighted a huge divide among the American people.

Whether those divisions can heal - allowing America to prevail in Iraq, repair its economy and bring back millions of jobs lost in recent years - now remains to be seen.