President Bush yesterday told reporters that he saw his victory in the polls as a mandate to push through his conservative initiatives including privatizing part of Social Security, limiting access to the courts in the name of tort reform and revamping the tax code. “I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style,” he said. “I’m going to spend it for what I told the people I’d spend it on, which is — you’ve heard the agenda: Social Security and tax reform, moving this economy forward, education, fighting and winning the war on terror.” Yesterday’s new conference was just the 16th of Bush’s presidency. At this point in their presidencies, Bill Clinton had held 42 news conferences and Bush’s father had held 83.