Mandate: The double standard.

[MattBaggins]

So last election we saw what was a very tight race where the loser received one of the largest vote totals in history. Bush's win came down to less then one percent in a few key battlegrounds states; yet we heard from the MSM how Bush had somehow earned a sweeping mandate. Well flash forward to this election where there is a good probability that Obama will win with greater then 350 electoral votes and Democrats will sweep a solid majority in both Houses of Congress. How much does Obama need to win by to silence the MSM and their attempt to claim he has no mandate? Will they set some silly goal of 400 or more electoral votes? What will be the sliding bar to declare a land slide?

[Democat]

1. Wasn't part of the "mandate" last time supposed to be "re-election"?

No matter if Obama wins every electoral vote, I wouldn't expect the right wing mainstream media to say anything about him having a mandate.

If Obama wins this, the media will probably go to work right away investigating him and ripping him apart.

Remember Bill Clinton? The media went after him non-stop!

[funflower]

5. Yes, but Bill had all kinds of crap in his closet. Barack is squeaky clean.

Which means he's going to be a lot less vulnerable.

[zbdent]

8. Uh-oh ... now you've done it. The MSM is going to say that you were implying

that African-Americans don't bathe ...

:eyes:

[funflower]

10. That or I'm saying Arkansans have messy closets.

[ikojo]

2. Barack Obama could win all but Texas and the media

will ask, "well why didn't he win Texas?" Surely he will need to move to the right. 51% is a mandate if you are the privileged Republican son of a previous president but it will not be for a first generation American born son. The corporate media will urge Obama and the Democrats, in the name of healing a divided nation to govern further from the right.

The Democrats, because they already are a center right party will do the media's bidding, particularly if the following stay in their positions: LIEberman, Pelosi and Reid.

Don't expect anyone in the current administration to be charged with any type of crime, not by Obama or Pelosi. We will hear talk of the need for healing (corporate media speak for moving further to the right and embracing the radicals who have attended the Palin rallies).

[MattBaggins]

4. See... he couldn't seal the deal. NT

[Democat]

7. If he did that, it would mean he won Utah!

And that would mean the end times have come. :rofl:

But I agree with what you're saying. No matter what Obama does, the media will question him.

And Pelosi and Reid are definitely part of the old guard. But, we have more important things to worry about in the next few days than those two. :spank:

[Perky]

3. I never heard the MSM call it a mandate

He proclaimed it a mandate in his vicory rally in DC but I never heard the MS echo that as a fact.

[LiberalFighter]

6. Yes. It was Bush that proclaimed he had a mandate. MSM went along with it.

[ikojo]

9. Yes the media did say Bush had a mandate with only 51% of

the votes cast.


http://mediamatters.org/items/200411040009

snip

Mainstream media outlets followed conservatives' lead in trumpeting Bush's narrow victory as a mandate:

; Tony Karon, TIME magazine columnist and senior editor: "George W. Bush took the reins of power with the confidence and certainty of one who had carried a landslide mandate to implement his own agenda. This time, of course, his claim of a popular mandate is incontrovertible. His party has strengthened its grip on both branches of the legislature, and freed of any first-term restraints that might be thrown up by reelection concerns, President George W. Bush is well positioned to even more vigorously pursue his agenda."

snip

Keith Miller, NBC News correspondent: "Bush, who won by more than three and a half million votes, has a solid mandate that will force the attention of America's enemies and allies."

snip

Doyle McManus and Janet Hook, Los Angeles Times staff writers: "Four years ago, George W. Bush won his first term with fewer votes than his opponent, but governed as if the nation had granted him a clear mandate to pursue conservative policies. This time, Bush can claim a solid mandate of 51% of the vote, which made him the first presidential candidate to win a clear majority since 1988 -- a point Bush aides made repeatedly Wednesday."