Just as was the case in 2000, whoever wins the presidency will receive nothing close to a mandate. The country remains as deeply divided as it was four years ago and afflicted with even more bitterness. A president can govern without acknowledging this fact. One has for the past four years. He just cannot govern well without a sense of and striving for some small patch of common ground held by both those who voted for him and the nearly 50 percent of Americans who spurned him on Election Day.
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