Does Obama have a clear mandate from the people?

I think with any other democratic candidate, it would have been more anti-bush, but Barack Obama has formed his own coalition and his own following. Also, Obama won the popular vote by 7% (source below) and that is a much clearer mandate than what you are saying. I do believe that Obama will be able to strongly influence government through not only his political strength, but also his strongly dedicated followers. If you visit the blog on his website you can see how much many of these people still intend to be involved. This will all help Obama as President.