Is The Bush Win A Mandate?

Well, yes, but a very tepid one. It's a big mandate for Republicans in general -- they gained in the House and the Senate and held on to the White House. They now dominate State legislatures, Governors, the House, the Senate, talk radio, cable news, the Supreme Court and the White House. It was really unhealthy when the Democrats dominated everything for many years and it's going to be just as bad now that the Republicans do.

But a mandate for Bush? He won the popular vote. (Hey, if at first you don't succeed...) But it came down to one state. One state. If one state had flipped, if Kerry had won Ohio OR Florida, then he would be the President. One state is not a stirring mandate.

But Dick Cheney is quoted in Bob Woodward's book as saying in 2000 that the idea that they should govern from the center because they'd lost the popular vote "last about 30 seconds." They're certainly not going to change now.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale in 1984, winning 58.8% of the popular vote versus Mondale's 40.4%. Now THAT'S a mandate.