[quidnunc]

Sloth wrote: A conservative wouldn't say that.

Hogwash!

Dubya didn't receive a majority of the popular vote, that's a fact.

And he received fewer votes than Algore nationwide.

That means that Dubya can't claim to have a popular mandate and so must tread carefully.

That's political reality which has nothing to do with conservative vs liberal.

[Twodees]

The electoral college is in place to remove any question of a "popular mandate". The office of president has one mandate only, Article II of the Constitution. Read it sometime. I doubt you'll like it, but read it anyway.