While the latest election was pretty decisive (about 51 percent for Biden, 47.3 percent for Trump), the fact remains that nearly half the voters preferred the Republican candidate over the eventual winner. That’s not insignificant and can hardly be called a “mandate” by the winner.

But of course, people do call it a mandate. “The people have spoken,” they say, forgetting that nearly half the other people spoke, too.

Grandpa Newby used to say that more people vote against a candidate than vote for a candidate, meaning that people vote for the other guy because they can’t stomach...