We Don't Have to Prove Mandate

[Joanne98]

by Birth of Tragedy
Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 05:18:58 AM PST
I have had enough of this talk about mandate.

It seems as if we the pundits are going to spend the aftermath of the election talking about "center-left" versus "center-right." About whether or not the left has the "mandate" or not.

More below.

Birth of Tragedy's diary :: ::
It begins with Karl Rove, who says that Obama had to pretend to be a center-right candidate when he's really a progressive - and by implication he means that if Obama got elected by running as center-right that's where he should remain.

It continues with Sam Dealey who says that Obama's victory was not a mandate for liberalism. He continues the Rovian lie: "Obama ran most effectively as a conservative Republican." (Right: the candidate accused of being a socialist ran most effectively as a Republican).

This argument about mandates continues with Novak who says that there was no realignment, no lopsided Congress and no landslide so there couldn't be a mandate. Nevermind that Obama won by 6% more than Bush in 2004 and then Novak had declared a mandate.

You've also got Schieffer and the NYTimes talking about Democrats turning conservative.

Now hitting back are our leaders Dean and Pelosi saying that, no, actually, we are a progressive country. You've got Media Matters saying that "conservative America is a myth." Then you had progressive think tanks issuing a report proving that there is a progressive mandate in the air:

On Tuesday, the country both rejected conservative ideology as well as embraced new, progressive priorities. The latest Pew Research poll showed that only 25 percent of the public agrees with the centerpiece of the conservative tax program: making Bush's tax cuts permanent. The public also agrees by 58 percent to 35 percent that the government should guarantee "health insurance for all citizens even if it means raising taxes." Exit poll data showed that 60 percent of voters were worried about rising health care costs and that 66 percent of those people backed Obama. A majority of Americans also want to expand environmental protections, increase the minimum wage, recognize same-sex marriage, and end the Iraq war, to name a few.

Great! I'm glad that we've been pushing back against this center-right talk. I'm glad we've been putting forward all the figures and the persuasive reasons why we can go ahead with our policies.

However it seems to me that the most blatant and obvious point is not being made by anyone.

We won.

We won so we have a mandate.

Winning is all the proof you need.

Whether you win by 1 vote or you double your opponent in the electoral college you have the mandate.

And when you add to this the fact that both the Senate and the House aligned with us you've got mandate mandate mandate.

It's time for us to pack the Supreme Court. It's time for us to pass universal healthcare. It's time for us to stop the pollution of our rivers. It's time for us to stop torture. It's time for us to bring back due process and habeas corpus. It's time for us to get rid of military commissions. It's time for us purge the corruption in our Justice Department.

In short: we don't have to prove mandate. We had mandate the moment that George Bush turned this country into Czarist Russia. Obama doesn't prove mandate. He is its fulfillment.

Obama can handle the PR. What are they going to say to him? "You didn't beat us bad enough to do this?" Let them. All it does is further establish the narrative that they lost.

We need to stop wasting our time even listening to these people. We are in charge now. Let's see if they can pull off what we did to them over the last five years.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/7/75426/7631/463/656537

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. An ass-kicking demands a mandate.

Simple.

[ElboRuum]

2. The Mandate is in the Pudding.

The only way to prove a mandate is to use it to get your platform passed. Do this? Instant mandate.