The Washington Post has a story titled Doubts About Mandate for Bush, GOP:

As the president passed the 100-day mark of his second term over the weekend, the main question facing Bush and his party is whether they misread the November elections. With the president’s poll numbers down, and the Republican majority ensnared in ethical controversy, things look much less like a once-a-generation realignment.

On November 4th last year, in an entry called Political Capital, I wrote:

You’ve spent your political capital, George. You’ve blown through it just like you blew through the budget surplus you inherited from the Clinton Administration.

You’ve got a deep deficit, George. You owe us.

So I feel like I’ve been ahead of the curve on the mandate issue.