Bush's "mandate"

[JohnnyMarzetti]

Why do we keep hearing "51% is not a mandate" from the Democratic talking heads?

60% of the electorate voted in the recent US Presidential election. Of that, slightly over half chose Mr Bush - that is if the election results were legitimate, i.e. not tampered with - but I'll leave that aside for the moment and assume for the sake of argument that it was. So we've got 30% of eligible voters endorsing Mr Bush.

Of those, a Gallup poll indicated that a mere 6% of voters chose Bush due to his "agendas/ideas/platforms/goals." The balance chose him due to some brand loyalty to the Republican party, or alleged personal qualities.

That means 6% of 30% - 1.8% of the electorate - actually supported Bush's platform.

So that's the real number of people who support the Bush agenda. Slightly less than one out of every fifty eligible voters.

1.8% is not a "mandate."

[2centsworth]

wow, Bush only got 1.8% of the votes. Is this the matrix?

[Hook Dem]

"So we've got 30% of eligible voters endorsing Mr Bush."................................ So, what you're saying is that your cronies didn't vote!

[Useruser666]

Figures don't lie, but liars can figure.

[GoldToe]

Go figure.