And so it begins. In his comments today, George W. Bush said:

>"We've worked hard and gained many new friends, and the result is now clear -- a record voter turnout and a broad, nationwide victory."

With 51% of the vote, GWB sees a "broad victory" handing him a mandate to tackle all the planks of the GOP platform. Worse, that sentiment is echoed by his supporters. The rest of us? The other _55 million_ citizens who voted against him? Well gosh, folks, you lost. With the House of Representatives comfortably held by the GOP, with the Senate headed for a 55/45 split in their favor, with about 30 of the governorships in the country, and with the impending death/retiring of more than one Supreme Court Justice... I don't know that there is anyone to stop them.

See: [White House: Debt Ceiling Must Be Raised](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=223596 "Boy, I didn't see that coming, did you?")

See: [Bush declares 'broad victory'](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/03/election.main/index.html "I feel... disenfranchised")
and: [Bill Bennett, moralist](http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bennett200411031109.asp "'President Bush now has a mandate to affect policy that will promote a more decent society, through both politics and law.'")
and: [Adam Yoshida, ultra conservative](http://www.adamyoshida.com/2004/11/four-more-years-aka-take-that-you-sons.html "'They lost, now they can sit in the back of the bus.'")