2008 Is Just 2 Years Away

2000, 2002, 2004, 2006.

The last six years have given us 4 close elections.

To my memory, the Republicans never had a clear mandate in 2000, 2002, and 2004. Although usually we can say one more vote than your opponent is a mandate, the Democrat margin in 2006 was as narrow as the Republican margins in past elections.

The Democrats can not sit back on their laurels and relax. 2008 will be tough.

http://time-blog.com/allen_report/2006/11/the_architect_speaks.html has this to say:
The Republican National Committee has been pointing out that a small shift in votes would have made a big difference. A shift of 77,611 votes would have given Republicans control of the House, according to Bush's political team. And a shift of 2,847 votes in Montana, or 7,217 votes in Virginia, or 41,537 votes in Missouri would have given a Republicans control of the Senate. In addition, the party has calculated that the winner received 51 percent or less in 35 contests, and that 23 races were decided by two percentage points or fewer, 18 races were decided by fewer than 5,000 votes, 15 races were decided by fewer than 4,000 votes, 10 races were decided by fewer than 3,000 votes, eight were decided by fewer than 2,000 votes and five races were decided by fewer than 1,000 votes.