[quote=briansd1]
I believe that Obama blew some opportunities because he had had the mandate and popular support. You said that he overeached and never had popular support.
What does that say about the Republican party? They are moving further and further to the right and away from the mainstream.
Time will tell. Unless the Republicans can issues important to Hispanic voters, they will not win presidential elections.
Unlike you, Allan, I believe that an Obama win will invigorate the right wing of the right, and cause the Republican party to turn more religious and reactionary.[/quote]
Brian: And yet none of what you believe is supported by facts, polling or data.
An excellent source is William Galston at The New Republic. As I’m sure you’re aware, Brian, TNR is hardly right-wing in style or content and Galston does an excellent job of deconstructing the numbers and setting forth his case as to what the upcoming election might bring.
Obama’s 2008 victory was too narrow to truly claim that he ever had a clearcut “mandate”. He ran against a weak GOP challenger and in an environment where the populace was clearly ready for a change after eight years of Dubya. The Dem drubbing in the 2010 mid-terms shows that his mandate, such as it was, wasn’t clearcut and that voter anger and frustration manifested itself in a swing back to the GOP and away from the Dems. This was NOT a mandate, either, simply the voters choosing to move in a different direction, after the Dems failed to move the needle.
Further debunking your point as to mandate: Obama and Co. are choosing NOT to run on signal legislation, like Obamacare, nor are they running on things like the auto bailouts. Why? Because polling consistently shows low voter approval numbers there.
So, if you want to argue using facts and data, let’s have at it. Otherwise, it’s simply more of the same leftist posturing.
