SO, WHAT IS A MANDATE? According to the dictionary, a mandate is “a command or an authorization given by the political electorate to its representatives.” Unfortunately, the dictionary doesn’t specify whether a mandate begins at 20%, 10%, or 3%. In the popular vote, Bush has a margin of 3 percent. This is lower than the margin held by any president since 1916, with the exceptions of Kennedy in 1960, Nixon in 1968, and Ford in 1976--and of course, W himself's negative margin in 2000 (remember, he lost the popular vote that time). Bush also has the smallest Electoral College margin,...
