A Heckuva Mandate: Beshear received 155,307 fewer votes Tuesday than he did in 2007

Not only does no one know what Steve Beshear's claimed mandate is a mandate for, but unmentioned by any of the analysis I have seen is the fact that Beshear received fewer votes in 2011 than he received in 2007.

Beshear garnered 464,245 votes on Tuesday. In 2007, however, he collected 619,552 votes, according to the Kentucky State Board of Elections website. That's 155,307 votes fewer in 2011 than in 2007.

Not exactly a huge electoral pat on the back.

Now a Beshear supporter could argue that the lower number of votes in 2011 was because of lower voter turnout. Would they be right? OF COURSE. But ten bucks says that the person giving this excuse is also blandly accepting Beshear's claim of a mandate, a claim made equally preposterous by taking into consideration a low voter turnout in 2011.

Jennifer Moore, you there?

Does Steve Beshear have a Mandate?

The total number of registered voters in Kentucky is 2,944,603 according to the Voter Registration Statistics Report. Steve Beshear received 464,657 votes yesterday according the unofficial tally. If you divide 464,657 by 2,944,603, you get 15.78%.

Can you have a mandate if you received the votes of only 15.78% of the registered voters in your state?

Just askin'.