re: #256 Univac

These are the same results, both electoral & popular.
I wasn’t asking a question, just responding to your summary.

I still propose that Obama does not have a mandate.

Well - it could be argued that he does; it could be argued that he doesn’t. Either way, the argument for or against it doesn’t mean a hill of beans, imo, any more now than it did when I heard it when GWB was President.

A President (like a Governor or a Mayor or any other elected official) cannot do everything that all of his/her constituents want done. He’s got to choose A instead of B. And he will do that based on, we hope, the best interests of the country (state, city, whatever the level of jurisdiction we’re talking about). And what is in the “best interest” of the country (state, city, whatever) will be determined, in part, by the official’s political leanings.

So, the President (Governor, Mayor, whatever) serves the entire country (state, city, whatever) but that doesn’t mean that he will make decisions or take action based on anything except what he thinks is best based on his political leanings. It’s why this country’s separation of powers (executive, legislative, judicial branches) are so important.

Right now, it looks to me like the GOP has fallen apart. Killgore said upthread that he thought there might be some gains for the GOP, but I honestly don’t know that that will happen. I hope it does; but the way things are going, there’s a whole pool of voters out there that is being turned off by the current antics of the GOP leadership.