text: 51 to 49 is not a referendum!!?? why do i see bumper stickers on toyota cars all the time "51% to 49% is not a mandate (referendum) but now 51 to 49 senators is a mandate? hilarious it is certainly a referendum if bush's '04 victory was a mandate. if bush's victory was not a mandate, but merely bush being full of himself, then we will have to rely on the fact that every single congressional upset favored a dem candidate. or that dems won 28 house seats and 6 governors in addition to the senate. or that the only democratic seat that was "lost" belonged to lieberman, and it still does.