What Mandate?

Dubya's handlers were quick to pounce on his popular vote win as a "mandate" for his agenda in a second term. Dubya has even talked of spending the "political capital" he earned as a result. But a new CBS/New York Times poll shows that the country may not be as enamored of Dubya's ideas as he likes to think. Tax cuts? No thanks, say 2/3rds of Americans (including 51% of Republicans), we'd prefer reducing the deficit. More findings:

Across the board, the poll suggested that the outcome of the election reflected a determination by Americans that they trusted Mr. Bush more to protect them against future terrorist attacks - and that they liked him more than Mr. Kerry - rather than any kind of broad affirmation of his policies.

On the other hand, the poll seems to reinforce the "value voters" theory, as, for example, a vast majority of Kerry supporters a wary of the influence of religion in politics, while an equally large number of Bush supporters want more religious influence in politics. It's gonna be a long four years, I fear.