[berned]

I think it's good to remember that Bush took office with virtually no mandate.

Considering he lost the popular vote, and was pilloried in the media as a moron, and took office with millions of people in this country convinced (wrongly of course) that he STOLE the election... and that a "repub" senator took the unprecedented step of defecting to give the Senate away to the dems... Bushie's done pretty damn fine for himself.

Politics is the art of the possible, not Fantasy World. With the unprecedentedly crappy hand Dubya was dealt, I believe he played it about as perfect as anyone ever could have.

Don't forget that Reagan had a 10 point mandate in '80, and a mega-landslide win in '84. Even Bush #41 had a solid 8 point victory in '88.

If we get back the Senate and keep the House, watch how skillfully Bush will push the Conservative agenda.

[weikel]

Yeah but the thing was he was a lot more conservative when he had "no mandate"( It only matters that you win IMHO. By how much and by what means fair or foul matters little after the fact). He tilted leftward after his approval rating has been high.