Via BuzzFlash, I learn that Ruy Teixeira, the "emerging Democratic majority" guy, has concluded that recent seemingly worrisome polls show Kerry doing rather nicely in battleground states. Teixeira says Bush's gains are in states he's already likely to win.

That's nice, but it leads me to wonder: What will happen this year if, God help us, Kerry wins the electoral college but loses the popular vote?

I'm pretty sure -- at least I hope -- that the GOP couldn't get away with saying that the electoral-college result should be thrown out in favor of the popular vote. Even an idiot could see the 2000 parallel.

But the GOP will take full advantage of the result, in a way Democrats never did (and should have) after 2000. Of course, the Republicans will challenge Kerry's legitimacy no matter how unambiguous his victory is, unless he somehow manages to win in a landslide the size of FDR's in '32. But if he loses the popular vote, forget it -- the words "Kerry" and "no mandate" will be inextricably linked (the press, which mostly loathes Kerry, will play right along).