‘Huge’ Trump mandate? Not so much

With the second lowest percentage of popular votes in 11 elections during the last 40 years (1984 to 2024), Donald Trump’s 1.6% advantage over Kamala Harris in November would not be considered a ‘huge’ mandate of the people. Even Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in the 2016 popular vote by 2.1%. 

According to Vocabulary.com “A mandate is when a politician wins an election by a wide margin ...”  Even in the Electoral College tallies show Trump finishes seventh lowest out of 11.  

The smallest popular vote victory percentage during that 40-year time period was when Al Gore outpolled George W. Bush in 2000 by .52%. Bush was given the presidency by the Supreme Court’s decision on the Electoral College vote from Florida. 

Perhaps Ronald Reagan’s 18.0% popular vote over Walter Mondale in 1984 would be considered a true mandate of the people; or even, in more recent years, Bill Clinton’s 8.5% popular vote over Robert Dole in 1996. But Trump’s recent win over Harris with a paltry 1.6% is relatively insignificant compared to all of these previous results: 

2020 – Joe Biden’s 4.4% over Donald Trump 

2016 – Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump 

2012 – Barack Obama’s 3.9% over Mitt Romney 

2008 – Barack Obama’s 7.2% over John McCain 

2004 – George W. Bush’s 2.4% over John Kerry 

2000 – Al Gore over George W. Bush 

1996 – Clinton over Dole 

1992 – Bill Clinton’s 6.4% over George H.W. Bush 

1988 – George H.W. Bush’s 7.8% over Michael Dukakis 

1984 – Reagan over Mondale 

(Source: Federal Election Commission Reports) 

Definitely not a ‘huge’ mandate. 

MAUREEN GRAHAM

Sandpoint