Caught in the Spin Cycle

"President Bush ran forthrightly on a clear agenda for this nation's future and the nation responded by giving him a mandate."
-Vice President Dick Cheney

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"If you have a race that is won by a percent or two, you have a narrowly divided country, and that's not a traditional mandate..."
- Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)

"Will 51% of the vote actually define the term mandate?"
- Keith Olbermann, MSNBC

"There isn't a mandate for President Bush. If it had been one or two points difference, Kerry would have won... What we heard today was a man who has divided the country."
- Vanden Heuval, The Nation

"We are in a divided country. There is no clear mandate."
- Ron Reagan, MSNBC