President receives mandate from nation

To Talk of Many Things

"I came, I saw, I conquered," said Julius Caesar of his Roman conquest in 47 B.C. of the city Zela in Asia Minor. On Nov. 2, George W. Bush and his Republican Party conquered the American election of 2004, having traveled the country and seen electoral opportunity that was brought to fruition.

President Bush was reelected over the challenge of Sen. John Kerry, winning 51 percent of the popular votes and taking 286 electoral votes to Kerry’s 252. The president was the first victor since 1988 to win a majority of the popular vote, as opposed to a plurality below 50 percent. He also became the first president since 1936 to win reelection while his party gained seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Finally, the president’s total popular vote tally of 59,459,765 votes was the largest victory for any presidential winner in the nation’s history. Bush actually improved his showing from 2000 in 45 out of the 50 states, including states carried by Kerry.

These numbers are indicative of a massive voter turnout across the country that was the largest since 1968. The grassroots-based get-out-the-vote efforts were spectacularly orchestrated by the Democrats and the Republicans, but it was the Republicans who edged it out. As The Washington Post analyzed on Nov. 3, the results show that the country still is sharply divided politically, but it is trending in a conservative direction.

Due to the relative closeness of the election, some Democrats have proposed that Bush does not have a mandate to pursue his policy initiatives. However, in 1992, upon Bill Clinton’s election, Time magazine had its Nov. 3 cover story about Clinton’s victory entitled "Mandate for Change." Clinton had received a popular plurality, rather than majority, of 43 percent. If this is the standard for presidential mandates, Bush certainly has surpassed it with his 51 percent majority. Even though Clinton’s 43 percent exceeded George H. W. Bush’s 37 percent and Ross Perot’s 19 percent, Bush obtained 51 percent compared to Kerry’s 49 percent, eking out a majority. Thus, he certainly can claim a mandate for his objectives.

Any presidential candidate who wins the electorate’s endorsement has demonstrated that the public desires at least some of what he has to offer. Upon entering his second term, Bush will be able to experiment with his proposals to find out which ones truly are desired. He should draw confidence from the fact that this election was not simply a personal victory for him. The Republicans’ congressional gains left them with 55 seats to 45 in the Senate and 231 to 200 in the House. The voters clearly have placed their trust in the president’s party for governance.

This election vividly illustrated that America is a conservative nation and that most people embrace much of the conservative agenda — especially those in the Middle American communities of the West, the South and the Midwest. The majority of Americans support this president, and they were willing to t turn out in record-high numbers to reelect him. The results indicate that not only do most people trust Bush to best keep our country safe, but a majority appreciates his stance on moral values. Even with the numerous mistakes made during the last four years — and there have been many — the electorate concluded that Bush’s strengths as a leader outweigh his flaws.