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Did Obama win a mandate with his reelection as president?

Did Obama win a mandate with his reelection?

  • Total voters
    46
With barely over 50% of the popular vote, the House still in GOP control, a lot of red states electorally, and red state legislatures and governors, that would be a clear NO. The GOP put up a stinker of a candidate again and Romney did not do a well enough job selling his economic vision ("IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID"). Not nearly as bad as McCain (whom I call Skeletor!), but not much of an improvement.
 
Chaddelamancha said:
I think this election with Obama being reelected along with the Republican House just tells me America doesn't know what the heck is going on. How does a congress with a 9% approval rating have an 80%+ reelection rate? It doesn't make any sense.
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Perhaps you should consider that Obama attended 221 fundraisers when Reagan attended only 4 when he ran for re-election per one of the guests on Moyers & Co. this week.
 
Chaddelamancha said:
I think this election with Obama being reelected along with the Republican House just tells me America doesn't know what the heck is going on. How does a congress with a 9% approval rating have an 80%+ reelection rate? It doesn't make any sense.
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It makes plenty of sense. First rule about politics dealing with states: my stuff is awesome, your stuff sucks.

1) Complaints about lobbyists and special interests
-Everyone needs lobbyists/special interests in order to represent portions of your lives that could otherwise get glossed over (including 2nd Amendment supporters, 1st Amendment speech folks). Yet, the only time it is good is when it is my special interest or lobbyist. In fact, if they do their jobs and fight for me correctly, they cease to be lobbyists or special interests at all. They simply become "what's right." It's the other assholes fighting for your interests that suck and should be eliminated.

2) Pork barrel spending
-Everyone complains about so-called unnecessary spending and spending laced into bills dealing with other subject matters (say healthcare loaded with unrelated spending). A sum of money to a zoo in Wisconsin becomes "pork" to someone from Oregon or Texas, but to those in Wisconsin, that is their representative doing their job, fighting for Wisconsin's best interests. Meanwhile, if Texas and Oregon place add an amendment to the bill that is meant to be for the people of Austin or Salem, Wisconsin's representatives (or the collective population) may cry foul.

This continues with expensive materials needed for certain populations, like the military. Coffee machines costing thousands of dollars are whined about by the masses, but they served the coffee so well that they didn't need to be replaced more frequently in a short time period than most Americans will do in their lives.

3) Ratings in Congress
-Everyone hates Congress, it's a 9% approval rating, but their representatives get elected. Why? Because my Congressman/woman gets the job done and faithfully represents the interests of my state. It's your congressmen that suck and are destroying the country.
 
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radcen said:
Does his "lame duck" status lessen any leverage he may have gained?
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No. Because any President in his second term is a lame duck. For Obama, it probably increases it since defeating him isn't the main priority for the GOP anymore.
 
Fiddytree said:
It makes plenty of sense. First rule about politics dealing with states: my stuff is awesome, your stuff sucks.

1) Complaints about lobbyists and special interests
-Everyone needs lobbyists/special interests in order to represent portions of your lives that could otherwise get glossed over (including 2nd Amendment supporters, 1st Amendment speech folks). Yet, the only time it is good is when it is my special interest or lobbyist. In fact, if they do their jobs and fight for me correctly, they cease to be lobbyists or special interests at all. They simply become "what's right." It's the other assholes fighting for your interests that suck and should be eliminated.

2) Pork barrel spending
-Everyone complains about so-called unnecessary spending and spending laced into bills dealing with other subject matters (say healthcare loaded with unrelated spending). A sum of money to a zoo in Wisconsin becomes "pork" to someone from Oregon or Texas, but to those in Wisconsin, that is their representative doing their job, fighting for Wisconsin's best interests. Meanwhile, if Texas and Oregon place add an amendment to the bill that is meant to be for the people of Austin or Salem, Wisconsin's representatives (or the collective population) may cry foul.

This continues with expensive materials needed for certain populations, like the military. Coffee machines costing thousands of dollars are whined about by the masses, but they served the coffee so well that they didn't need to be replaced more frequently in a short time period than most Americans will do in their lives.

3) Ratings in Congress
-Everyone hates Congress, it's a 9% approval rating, but their representatives get elected. Why? Because my Congressman/woman gets the job done and faithfully represents the interests of my state. It's your congressmen that suck and are destroying the country.
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What you wrote here is an excellent explanation, and is what I agree to be true, but it still doesn't make any "sense"... in the rhetorical sense that the average voter is unable to connect the dots and walk the walk... which is what I believe the previous poster was saying.
 
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