Does Obama Have a Mandate?
Well ... more than Dubya I and II. But, about the same as Clinton I and II, and a whole lot less than Bush pater.
The New York Times plotted out popular vote margin against electoral vote margin.
Most elections fall along an upward slope: a bigger popular margin matches up with a bigger electoral margin. Elections from the last century divide neatly into 3 groups: close elections, landslides, and a small middle group.* This election falls into that middle group with the 1996, 1992 and 1908 elections.
* The 1920 and 1924 elections, which had large popular margins but smaller electoral ones are the exceptions.
