As I reported last night, the current popular vote totals stand at:
Bush: 61,250,726 (50.88%)
Kerry: 57,968,492 (48.15%)
All remaining: @ 1.16 million
To put Bush's 2.73% win in perspective, with the added caveat that his final spread will be closer to 2.6% when California and New York make their final reports in December, I used Dave Leip's outstanding data to compare Bush's "crushing mandate" to other presidential winners and their percentage-of-victory margin since the end of WW2.
- Bush 2.6-2.7%
- Bush -0.5%
- Clinton 8.5%
- Clinton 5.0%
- Bush Sr. 7.7%
- Reagan 18.2%
- Reagan 9.8%
- Carter 2.1%
- Nixon 23.2%
- Nixon 0.6%
- Johnson 22.6%
- Kennedy 0.2%
- Eisenhower 16.4%
- Eisenhower 10.9%
- Truman 4.5%
OK, now let's do some rough groupings:
- Nixon 23.2%
- Johnson 22.6%
These are whopping googlebangplex mandates. :-)
- Reagan 18.2%
- Eisenhower 16.4%
These are unquestioned mandates.
- Eisenhower 10.9%
- Reagan 9.8%
These are lesser, but still difficult to question, mandates.
- Clinton 8.5%
- Bush Sr. 7.7%
These are more decisive wins than clear mandates.
- Clinton 5.0%
- Truman 4.5%
These are decisive wins only, not mandates.
- Bush 2.6-2.7%
- Carter 2.1%
These are solid, not decisive, wins, and certainly not mandates.
- Nixon 0.6%
- Kennedy 0.2%
- Bush -0.5%
These are divided races with someone getting more votes in the end -- no winners, really, and definitely no winner in 2000.
Bush's "mandate"? Absolute rubbish.