With the tabulating of the popular vote in the presidential election nearly complete, Taegan Goddard has a line this morning that rings true: "The election was close but not really."
That sounds about right. President Obama finished with 332 electoral votes -- more than 60% of the available total -- which points to a clear victory. And what of the popular vote? As of this morning, there are still some votes on the West Coast and Arizona to be counted, but Obama has about 62.3 million votes, while Mitt Romney stands at about 58.9 million votes. In percentage terms, that's 50.6% to 47.9%.
Given the number of outstanding votes remaining in California, we may yet see Obama's popular vote margin go from 2.7% to 3%, but that's roughly where things currently stand.
I mention this because there was some question last week about whether Obama's 2012 totals would fall short of George W. Bush's totals. They did not. This year, the Democratic president topped his predecessor in raw popular vote and electoral votes -- and this applies to Bush's victories in both 2000 and 2004.
(In terms of popular votes, Obama has received more support than every other candidate from both parties in American history, but comparisons to elections in previous generations are unfair given population growth.)
Eight years ago at this time, the Wall Street Journal editorial page insisted Bush/Cheney had a "mandate," arguing, "Never mind the closeness of the electoral vote, this time Mr. Bush easily won the popular vote, the first President to win more than 50% since his father in 1988."
Eight years later, Obama fared even better than Bush in both tallies (electoral votes and popular votes), suggesting, by conservative standards, the president has at least as credible a claim to a mandate.
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Democrats, especially Kenyan, socialist, fascist Democrats, don't get mandates. (/snark)
Ya beat me to it .
He stole the election doncha know .......We in fact saw a Black Panther suppressing the vote and don't forget about Strategic Allied Consulting voter fraud ...oh wait that was us. Never mind
Democratic presidents are never legitimate, only Republicans
Ya BOTH beat me to it! (Some of us have actual lives, ya know. . .)
It's like a Vulcan mind-meld in here!
They simply will not, cannot, be gracious or allow for the reality that they LOST.
hey you comedians - where are you appearing?????
I am extremely anxious to see how Obama is going to deal with the republicans regarding the debt ceiling and the grand bargain.
I really hope he learned his lesson from his last term; you can't negotiate with people in good faith when their sole purpose is to defeat you at every turn.
He DOES have a mandate. He DOES have political capital. Will he use it? Will he play hardball? Will he negotiate from a position of strength?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Why be anxious...???
President Obama has proven again and again, that he is playing chess while those partisan anti-american republicans are playing tiddly winks.
Trust him to deal with them...he has a mandate by every definition of the word, and he will use it.
I'm with Citizen in being anxious. Obama has consistently started from the moderate Republican position and been pulled right to "compromise"
Here's the deal. Allow the Bu$h tax cuts to expire, but not on those making under $250K, make those permanent.
And the grand bargain - no cuts to SS, Medicaid/Medicare - NONE.
This is what he should lay out on the floor before any sort of debt talks with the republicans commence.
After Shrub said he got a mandate I didn't believe it so I looked up the definition of mandate and damned if Shrub didn't get his mandate.
And darned if Shrub didn't play his mandate for more than it was worth.
So if Shrub got a mandate then Barry also got a mandate. ...
All this yapping about Mandates is pretty useless, the Republican lost and to the Victor goes the control.
If the Republican doesn't like it all they have to do is win the next one.
.
It would serve Mitt right if he only got 47%.
Karma's a bitch, ain't it?
As either Driftglass or Attaturk said, it'll be endlessly amusing if Romney's final vote figure is 47%.
Word, just-john, MikiMiki, and D.C. Sessions. And another shout out to @AnneOnymous670 for her pivotal "47%" Romney video. Although David Corn and James Carter IV may have received the lions' share of kudos for this video, never forget who captured it and made sure we all heard about it.
-Bleuz00m
I see that while I was typing in my "47%" comment two others beat me to it. Props, peeps.
I hate that word "mandate." Every time a president uses it, or even thinks it, what it really means is "I'm getting ready to f**k up by the numbers."
And now Obama has lots of political capital to spend. Woo Hoo!! Medicare for all!
The GOP will offer all manner of alternatives rather than simply passing a tax hke on the top enders. These are insincerely offered traps. Better to hold tight and do nothing and let the Bush cuts expire on 1/01/13 and then sit down to negotiate from a position of strength.
I agree, let the tax structure reset.
I'm in. I'd rather take a little short-term pain for long-term gain than continue to be able to do nothing but fume at the GOP's disgraceful efforts to circle the wagons around their greedy patrons. If Sheldon Adelson can laugh off shoveling $70M down an election sinkhole, why can't he then afford to pay a more accountable share of taxes? At least pay the rate that I do -- that's what I would call a "fairer share."
Sharing here, as well: NY Senator Kirstin Gillibrand's insights about this 2012 'Historic Election for Women.'
http://www.offthesidelines.org/blog/a-historic-election-for-women
Please, TRMS , FB, and Twitter friends, share this with Washington US Senator Patti Murray, California US Senator Barbara Boxer, North Dakota's newest US Senator, Heidi Heitcamp and Massachusetts ' newest US Senator Elizabeth Warren (ROAR!!) and with the awesome Minnesota US Senator Amy Klobuchar . Thank you, sisters and brothers of #p2 .
Ref: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/women-senate-2012-election_n_2086093.html
-Bleuz00m
If Obama was a republican then yes he would have a mandate. But as he's not the GOP will not accept he does indeed have one.