Comments on: mandate http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/ Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy. Wed, 23 May 2012 12:36:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Hank Barnes http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165072 Hank Barnes Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:06:23 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165072 Mandate to do what?, I repeatedly patiently ask........ HB Mandate to do what?, I repeatedly patiently ask……..

HB

]]> By: Scott http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165067 Scott Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:08:35 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165067 Don't get me wrong, I think Obama has a mandate; but it isn't the complete mandate that an overwheliming margin of victory would give. maggie is right, many people signed on to Obama because they hated Bush and the GOP; they have given their approval implicitly to Obama.  However, it doesn't imply that they know, understand and approve of every last detail of his agenda so if he tries to "spend his political capital" by forcing through his entire agenda in '09 (something, even with said mandate, Bush never even came close to trying) he will lose those voters, his margin of victory, and (in'10) the Congress. Clinton was centrist?  Gee, I didn't know that universal health care was a centrist position; oh wait, <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/issues2/articles/29_favor_national_health_insurance_overseen_by_federal_government" rel="nofollow">it isn't.</a> Don’t get me wrong, I think Obama has a mandate; but it isn’t the complete mandate that an overwheliming margin of victory would give.

maggie is right, many people signed on to Obama because they hated Bush and the GOP; they have given their approval implicitly to Obama.  However, it doesn’t imply that they know, understand and approve of every last detail of his agenda so if he tries to "spend his political capital" by forcing through his entire agenda in ’09 (something, even with said mandate, Bush never even came close to trying) he will lose those voters, his margin of victory, and (in’10) the Congress.

Clinton was centrist?  Gee, I didn’t know that universal health care was a centrist position; oh wait, it isn’t.

]]> By: JLBussey http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165058 JLBussey Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:59:03 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165058 <em>...Obama’s instincts are soldily[sic] centrist.</em> Whatever Aziz is smoking, I want some! <em>JLBussey's last blog post..<a href='http://jlbussey.typepad.com/ce/2008/11/a-curious-young-buck.html' rel="nofollow">A Curious Young Buck</a></em> …Obama’s instincts are soldily[sic] centrist.

Whatever Aziz is smoking, I want some!

JLBussey’s last blog post..A Curious Young Buck

]]> By: Scott http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165055 Scott Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:11:25 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165055 <em>these are differential measures, which I only invoked to compare to Bush’s claim in 2004 of having a mandate. In comparison to Bush’s claim then the logic applies even more so for Obama.   </em>So, the logic being that Bush is the arbiter of what is and what is not a mandate?  I thought Aziz and others didn't trust him and mocked his claim of a mandate four years ago.  Ah, but now Obama has a mandate because Bush had a mandate with a slightly smaller margin of victory! Aziz likes to think of himself as a analytical/technical person.  And as you can see from his past performance in analysis, he has some small ability to "crunch the number", but when it comes to a real, professional analysis he fails<em>. </em>Aziz is becoming ridiculous<em> </em> these are differential measures, which I only invoked to compare to Bush’s claim in 2004 of having a mandate. In comparison to Bush’s claim then the logic applies even more so for Obama.
 
So, the logic being that Bush is the arbiter of what is and what is not a mandate?  I thought Aziz and others didn’t trust him and mocked his claim of a mandate four years ago.  Ah, but now Obama has a mandate because Bush had a mandate with a slightly smaller margin of victory!

Aziz likes to think of himself as a analytical/technical person.  And as you can see from his past performance in analysis, he has some small ability to "crunch the number", but when it comes to a real, professional analysis he fails.

Aziz is becoming ridiculous

]]> By: Aziz Poonawalla http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165054 Aziz Poonawalla Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:04:25 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165054 jerry thats missing the point. Waiting for Obama to finish out a term and the grade him using the 2012 elections is totally backwards. The reason mandates matter is what Obama does in the next 4 years, not whether he gets reelected or not. I dont give a lfying fig if Obama gets reelected in 2012 if he doesnt do anything of consequence in the interval. I want him to spend that political capital NOW. jerry thats missing the point. Waiting for Obama to finish out a term and the grade him using the 2012 elections is totally backwards. The reason mandates matter is what Obama does in the next 4 years, not whether he gets reelected or not. I dont give a lfying fig if Obama gets reelected in 2012 if he doesnt do anything of consequence in the interval. I want him to spend that political capital NOW.

]]> By: jerryk72 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165043 jerryk72 Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:43:38 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165043 Aziz, The guy isn't even in office yet. Let him get in there, get his feet wet and run the country. If he does a great job, all the states will turn blue in 2012. If he does a crappy job, some of those states that turned blue this time will turn back to red.  I think the only states that will stay blue are the West Coast states and the North East states. The rest will flip like Christmas lights depending on the performance of the President. Jerry Aziz,

The guy isn’t even in office yet. Let him get in there, get his feet wet and run the country. If he does a great job, all the states will turn blue in 2012. If he does a crappy job, some of those states that turned blue this time will turn back to red.  I think the only states that will stay blue are the West Coast states and the North East states. The rest will flip like Christmas lights depending on the performance of the President.

Jerry

]]> By: Hank Barnes http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165042 Hank Barnes Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:34:17 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165042 Mandate to do what?, I repeatedly ask.............:) HB Mandate to do what?, I repeatedly ask………….:)

HB

]]> By: zach http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165039 zach Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:54:37 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165039 maggie, okay, so that's the people you know.  how about the rest of the country? maggie,

okay, so that’s the people you know.  how about the rest of the country?

]]> By: Bryan Lovely http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165028 Bryan Lovely Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:25:46 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165028 <em>these are differential measures, which I only invoked to compare to Bush’s claim in 2004 of having a mandate. In comparison to Bush’s claim then the logic applies even more so for Obama.</em><br><br><strong>Every</strong> winner claims they have a "mandate", which is why the term is so worthless. In a junior high school popularity contest, I wouldn't claim to be the Most! Popular! Boy! Ever! if only 52 out of 100 voted for me; I'd take my slightly higher than average popularity and be happy with it.<br><br>Obama's "mandate" is to not be George W. Bush. <em>Bryan Lovely's last blog post..<a href='http://lovelys.com/blog/2008/11/musings-on-the-election/' rel="nofollow">Musings on the Election</a></em> these are differential measures, which I only invoked to compare to Bush’s claim in 2004 of having a mandate. In comparison to Bush’s claim then the logic applies even more so for Obama.

Every winner claims they have a "mandate", which is why the term is so worthless. In a junior high school popularity contest, I wouldn’t claim to be the Most! Popular! Boy! Ever! if only 52 out of 100 voted for me; I’d take my slightly higher than average popularity and be happy with it.

Obama’s "mandate" is to not be George W. Bush.

Bryan Lovely’s last blog post..Musings on the Election

]]> By: Aziz Poonawalla http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165024 Aziz Poonawalla Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:19:10 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/2008/11/07/mandate/#comment-165024 Zach, i did mention population growth in my comment - and absolute percentage is certainly fine, but not percentage <em>margin</em>. Zach, i did mention population growth in my comment – and absolute percentage is certainly fine, but not percentage margin.

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