D.C. bigs doubt mandate win

WASHINGTON — A landslide doesn’t mean a mandate, complicating Hillary Clinton’s aspirations if she reaches the White House.

Clinton looks all but certain to crush Donald Trump in two weeks, with the possibility of a map-expanding electoral blowout within reach.

But the 2016 campaign has turned much more into a referendum on a historically flawed candidate than a war of ideas that would have given Clinton a real chance to govern from her campaign platform.

Campaign coverage has focused heavily on Trump’s personal flaws and divisive racial rhetoric, leaving little room for voters to learn about Clinton’s policy proposals. Her poll numbers remain under water. And the House is likely to remain in Republican hands even on a great Election Night for Democrats.

Party strategists are already looking ahead to a tough 2018 midterm campaign map, making any attempts at sweeping changes a tough sell with voters and Congress.

“It’s unlikely Hillary Clinton is going to have a mandate,” said Ron Bonjean, a GOP strategist who has worked in both House and Senate leadership. “If she becomes President, it’s only because voters don’t like Donald Trump and they just couldn’t vote for him.”

“I don’t remember a winning candidate in modern times having an unfavorable image in the 60s (of poll percentage points),” said Josh Holmes, a former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “The real question for any new administration is what their agenda is going to be.”

Clinton’s numbers aren’t quite that bad at this point, but she remains unpopular with broad swaths of the electorate. Most recent polls find her personal