The president has already used the term “mandate” when referring to the results of the election’s popular vote. I disagree with the premise of “a mandate of the people”. Yes, he received a majority of the popular votes which were cast insuring his re-election. But more than half of the population that is eligible to vote, did not exercise their right. When you look at the numbers, and we will use the 2010 census figures, 308,745,538 is the total population. These figures are conservative because the current population is 314,742,236 therefore my calculations allow room for error that would benefit my position. The total number of people who cast a ballot for either candidate is less than 120,000,000. More than half of eligible voters did not vote! In essence, the president was elected by a majority of those who voted, but NOT by a majority of the people who will be governed by his decisions. Why do people choose not to vote??  I think it comes down to two main reasons when you exclude all of the minor “I was sick” or “I was on vacation” or “I didn’t have a way to get there”. These can be overcome with an absentee ballot. However, if you don’t believe that your vote counts, why make an effort. It seems that people do not have faith in the integrity of our system. Maybe because someone they voted for in the past did not get elected or maybe because whoever does get elected seems to ignore what the people want and push an agenda that satisfies their own political ambitions. That would certainly discourage participation in a system that appears to ignore them or, worse, patronize them. We are smart enough to know the difference. The next possibility for not voting is that none of the candidates are acceptable to them. Sadly, that may be what happened in this election. The candidates approved by the DNC and RNC were not what the people wanted but the DNC was better at making people feel they were important to the process. Unfortunately, many of those people are cold, hungry, and homeless as a result of Hurricane Sandy. I wonder if they still feel important now that the election is over.