If Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry won the battle in Reston and Fairfax County, then President George W. Bush won the war.
Kerry won every voting precinct in Reston, including the three polling places Bush won in 2000. Overall in Reston, Kerry won with 60 percent of the vote to Bush's 37 percent.
Of course, Bush won the presidency with 286 electoral votes and 51 percent of the popular vote, compared to Kerry's 252 electoral and 48 percent of the popular vote.
Kerry also took Fairfax County with 53 percent of the vote to Bush's 46 percent, marking the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has won Virginia's most populated county in more than 30 years.
Turnout at Reston's 11 polling places was particularly high on Nov. 2, with 74 percent of registered residents casting a vote. Approximately 30,160 Reston voters cast a ballot, a spike of nearly 3,000 more voters than in the 2000 election.
Fairfax County Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill) said she was pleased to see the long lines at every Reston polling place.
"I haven't seen lines this long since Bill Clinton was elected in 1992," she said, having been a poll worker at the Lake Anne Elementary School precinct for nearly 30 years.
In the 2000 election, Bush carried the North Point, Aldrin and Sunrise Valley precincts. All three swung to the Democrats in the 2004 election, though by relatively slim margins.
"Obviously we were pleased by the turnout, but unfortunately every place can't be like Reston," said Jackie Madry-Taylor, the Hunter Mill district chair of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee.
MADRY-TAYLOR credited large-scale get-out-the-vote efforts and an army of volunteers with the high turnout of Democratic-leaning voters.
Both local Democratic and Republican organizations "flushed" voters by marking off names on a voter list as Reston residents cast their ballot, and then finding registered voters at their homes and encouraging them to get to the polls.
"We had very extensive canvassing and GOTV efforts for John Kerry," Madry-Taylor said.
The results indicate that Reston bolstered its reputation as a Democratic stronghold, though most analysts said that was expected.
"It's not a surprise to any of us that follow the numbers," said Eric Lundberg, chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee.
AT THE THREE precincts Bush carried in 2000, many voters split their ticket, voting for Kerry but against U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, the Democratic incumbent.
Moran came under fire for comments he made in Reston last year, blaming support for the Iraq War on the Jews.
Moran's Republican challenger, defense contractor Lisa Marie-Cheney carried those three Reston precincts. Moran won all other precincts in Reston and much of the rest of the 8th District, which includes Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and portions of Vienna, McLean and Springfield.
Madry-Taylor said Moran is well-respected among his constituents largely because his influential seat on the House Appropriations Committee has allowed him to help direct billions in defense spending to Northern Virginia firms, boosting the region's economy.
"He's a real hard worker," she said. "There's possibly an opportunity for him to get to know some of the voters in those areas."
On the other hand, Lundberg said Moran's gaffes led to an erosion of his support and that it indicates he may be open to a successful challenge in two years.
"If there's any Democrat who could lose the 8th District, Jim Moran is it," he said. "No Democrat should lose that district, but he could."