Over the next two months, we're going to hear a lot about how now Bush has a 'mandate,' since he won, for now, with a 3.5 million margin. This is pure, unadulterated bullsh-- propaganda.
Look: last time Bush came in second, and acceded to office thanks only to a 5-4 vote on the Supreme Court. Did he restrain himself because he did not have some kind of 'mandate'?
We have a system. You win the election, you get to be president. The role is constitutionally defined, and the constitution doesn't say you can do more things the more your victory margin is. Bush knew that last time, so let's not let him get away with pretending its any different this time.
That is to say: don't let appeals to a 'mandate' become an excuse for criticizing Democrats who exercise their rights to participate in the policymaking process, rather through filibuster or through simple dissent.
Bush will use the M-word especially when it comes to nominating anti-Roe judges to the courts. Point out at every opportunity that 'mandate' is a fictional concept.