European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 6, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bill Clinton was tha Elgar Winner but More than half the ballots wars East for a Maona  Walter r. Mears the associated press mandate is More than a number and a newly elected president like Bill Clinton can define his own a for As Long As he can make it stick. The message and the program will count More than the statistics As the president elect shapes his democratic administration and readies a drive to gain Early congressional approval for his priority programs. A  on tuesday could have strengthened Clinton s standing at the outset but Well before his inauguration on Jan. 20, those numbers will be relegated to footnotes. The Republican undertone questioning the mandate of a president elected without a Clear majority is not going to alter that. Quot there s no mandate Quot said Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole. Quot Clinton did t have a popular majority and there Are no  republicans Dole among them disputed just that argument when president Nixon was elected in 1968 with 43 percent of the vote exactly the share Clinton got. Nixon a margin was less than 1 percentage Point. Clinton beat president Bush by 5 Points and won an electoral vote landslide carrying 32 states. Clinton is the 16th president elected without a majority of the popular vote. Both John f. Kennedy and Harry s. Truman were held below 50 percent. Abraham Lincoln did t get 40 percent when he was elected in 1860. While the democrats were claiming a Clear message from the voters for Clinton s proposals on jobs economic revival health care and More republicans counter claimed that More people said no to him than said yes. That s one Way of counting. The democrats retorted that two thirds voted against Bush and for change. That numbers game is pointless. Outgoing Republican the Cllnton Gora Victory broke the Reagan Republican s grip on the american Middle class electorate. Chairman Rich Bond proved it by playing it. On wednesday morning to talk shows he said Clinton had received Only 300,000 More votes than Michael Dukakis did in 1988, a figure both irrelevant and incorrect. Clinton s popular vote was 1.9 million higher. Bush beat Dukakis by 8 percentage Points and carried 40 states but he won without a Clear program except to continue on president Reagan s course. Those were mandate margins but with no message to to ratified they did t impress the democratic Congress. In contrast the message was unmistakable in the Reagan landslide that ousted president Carter. Reagan campaigned for a tax Cut and a step up in defense spending and got both after an election in which republicans took Over the Senate and gained 33 seals in the House. Clinton a coattails weren t evident although his managers said he d helped congressional democrats. Republicans gained nine seats in the House where they a once thought they could at least triple that showing. In the Senate the democrats could wind up with a one seat gain. But Clinton had made a Point of performing Campaign favors and helping with fund raising for democratic candidates gaining credits to can Call As Congress acts on his proposals. With democrats in full control Dole said there should t be gridlock. Quot it s up to them to produce. They clearly have the responsibility  that s apparently what the voters wanted. An election Day voter poll showed 62 percent wanted a president and Congress of the same party. Indeed earlier in the Campaign Vico president Dan Quayle had said in a television interview that while he wanted republicans in Power people who were determined to vote for Clinton should vote democratic for Congress too rather than for divided government and divided responsibility. Even with the democrats in full control. Dole said republicans will be in a position to Block Quot awful legislation Quot Clinton will propose. They Haven t got the votes and they won t have the veto but they still have the Senate filibuster. Quayle tried a different tack suggesting that Clinton May sometimes need Republican help in Congress despite the democratic majorities. Quot he ran As a new Type of Democrat a More conservative Democrat Quot Quayle said in an Abc interview wednesday. Quot and some of his ideas Are going to be More compatible with ideas of mine than some of the Liberal democrats in  when the other Side wins the mandate adaptability has its advantages