Mandates: Eh?

Here's a letter signed by eighty people many of whom have impressive sounding titles who say the mandate difference between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton doesn't really amount to very much in the end. It's hard for me to judge if that's right or not -- there are clearly a bunch of folks who see things the other way. In practice, I think this may not matter just because of the way the legislative process works; the relevant question is what position on this matter has the support of on-the-fence congressmen.