it expressed bush's optimism towards winning the war on terrorism, ushering in an ownership society and building an innovative economy to compete in the world. bush was re-elected by a larger margin than in 2000, but won the smallest share ever of the popular vote for a reelected incumbent president. however, he was the first republican candidate since 1988 to win an outright majority. in the same election that year, the republicans gained seats in both houses of congress and bush told reporters: "i earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now i intend to spend it. it is my style".