re: What a load of BS
I didn't use the word "mandate." I used precise quotes I have heard endlessly for four years.
Bush won by 3.5 million votes in a recovering economy, with a difficult war going on, and the media, the Democrats, and others spending millions of dollars, thousands of hours of air time, miles of newspaper column length, and every single waking moment of their existence trying to bring him down.
With massive voter turnout, his support increased from 2000 levels across the country, and across multiple voter categories.
His re-election was cheered by Iraqis hoping for peace, and a vast majority of our military currently fighting over there.
Mandate? Maybe, maybe not. But one hell of a victory.