11/9/2012 5:11 AM
Just for the sake of argument:
Obama's win was bigger than John Kennedy's in 1960 (303 electoral votes, popular vote margin of 112,827), bigger than Richard Nixon's in 1968 (301 electoral votes, popular vote plurlaity of 512,000), bigger than Jimmy Carter's in 1976 (297 electoral votes, popular vote margin of 1,683,247), bigger than George W. Bush's in 2000 (271 electoral votes and a popular vote loss of 543,816).
Karl Rove attempted to suggest Tuesday night that Obama's victory was diminished by the fact that the president did not improve on his 2008 numbers, and recalled that some presidents (Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton) have done so. But he failed to note how over the past century, many presidents have stumbled in their bids for second terms, including: George H.W. Bush (defeated in 1992), Jimmy Carter (defeated in 1976), Lyndon Johnson (decided not to seek re-election bid after 1968 primary setbacks), Harry Truman (decided not to seek re-election after 1952 primary setbacks), Herbert Hoover (defeated in 1932 re-election bid), Woodrow Wilson (won by narrower margin in 1916 than in 1912) and William Howard Taft (ran third in 1912 re-election bid).
Significantly, Rove's man, George W. Bush won his 2004 re-election run with just 286 electoral votes, and faced serious challenges to the result in the state that put him across the 270 line: Ohio.
Never mind, Bush claimed a broad mandate.