We see both sides arguing ferociously over the issue of Trump’s mandate … and I didn’t even know he was gay. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist.)
SERIOUSLY, both sides are debating whether the election gave Trump a mandate – or not. Personally, I have always thought that the very concept of a mandate is relatively meaningless. Whether you win by one percent or 40 points, you get the office and all the powers and prerogatives that go with it. In politics, winning is the mandate.
The traditional theory of a mandate is that if you win by a large margin, you have more latitude to act more boldly. That strikes me as more fiction than reality. The power bestowed by the office does not increase or diminish depending on the size of the vote.
Even though the margins are slim in both the Senate and the House, the GOP controls both. They have been given the power to govern by the people. How does a so-called mandate change that?
Trump claims to have a mandate, while his critics say he does not. The latter points out that he won the popular vote by less than one percent at the last counting – and his total has dropped below 50 percent as more votes have come in from California.
So why does Trump think he has one of those ill-defined mandates? Perhaps it is just his tendency to exaggerate. That is part of it, but there are some grounds for seeing his victory as very impressive and empowering — something extraordinary.
Trump’s mandate from the people is based on the breadth of his victory – not the necessary depth. It was a close race nationally, but he showed exceptional strength in every state – even the blue states.
Trump beat Vice President Harris in every one of the battleground states – an accomplishment that was deemed to be virtually impossible by most observers and pundits just days before the votes were counted.
Trump beat his 2020 vote by more than 3 percent in thousands of counties across the country. Conversely, Harris did not do 3 percent better than the Biden/Harris vote in 2020 in any county in America.
Trump improved his numbers with Hispanics – winning a majority of Latino men. He was the first Republican to carry Star County in Texas – the most Hispanic county in America (97%) for the first time since 1892. In 2020, he lost Star County by a 60 point margin. This time he carried it by a comfortable 16 points – a 76-point shift in voter preference.
Trump did better among Blacks – especially the men — even though he was constantly accused of being a racist.
Trump did better with women than he had against Joe Biden in 2020. Trump did better among Blacks and women in 2024 — when running against a Black woman — than he did when running against a White man in 2020. Ponder that for a second.
At the granular level, Trump’s win was so broad and impressive that pundits and political strategists on both sides are calling it a potential realignment – a fundamental and sustainable shift in voter preferences. If this turns out to be a realignment, Trump will be a transitional President in the spirit of Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.
Whether you believe Trump has a mandate or not is less important than if he believes he has one. He will neither be cowed nor proceed with timidity based on the closeness of the national vote. He is poised to execute his plans and policies with vigor and great determination.
There can be no disagreement on one point – Trump won a very substantial and impressive victory. And even more impressive considering the political baggage he carried and the eight-year unprecedented campaign of excessive animosity and unrelenting demonization by a political alliance of determined never-Trumpers.
If Trump believes he has a mandate … and acts like he has a mandate … he has a mandate – even if it was given to him by a small majority of the electorate. All the quibbling over an illusionary mandate is meaningless.
So, there ‘tis.