Mandate in the Eye of the Beholder
We’ve gone down this road before…does Donald Trump have a mandate going forward or not. In many respects, it’s a waste of time to discuss…just get to work. It is true that Trump won both the popular vote and the electoral college vote–the only one that counts. And both the House and Senate will have Republican majorities.
But it’s only by a three-vote margin, plus the tie breaking vote of the vice president, in the Senate…and about that same margin in the House. And as more votes are being counted nationwide–why that is still happening is wrong and a topic for another day–Trump has slipped below 50 percent, to 49.94 percent; still the most votes, but no longer a majority.
For reference, Joe Biden was credited with 51.31 percent, Trump the first time had 46.09 percent, Obama was at 52.93 and 51.06 percent in 2008 and 2012 respectively. Bill Clinton won two terms, won the popular vote each time, but never had a majority–43.01 percent in 1992 against George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot, and 49.23 percent in 1996.
To me, here’s the most important point–the American electorate is split with a large number of independent voters swinging the election. The winning margins are small. The majorities in Congress are small. So whatever action is taken by those governing–whichever party at whatever time–needs to take into account that fact. Pass your agenda, to be sure…but with an eye toward what changes the voters are really signaling they want and not misinterpreting the vote to be a call for all corners of your party agenda to be enacted.
Because the way things go…they’ll just be reversed two or four years later because you went too far without real permission.
