Swiped this from the Sunday Glob. A little more comforting than the Red-Blue diachotomy, particularly since I think that particular metaphor is false. The US is divided, not primarily by state.
Maybe 3% of the popular vote is a "mandate". However, if Bush screws up his second chance by alienating even more voters, then Rove's long sought Republican ruling majority might not materialize.
Of course, I always thought Bush had alienated enough voters the first time around.