I hate to be a wet blanket, but....

[ClarkJonathanKent]

Listen, I don't post a lot. I'd like to, but I just don't. That being said, I am on this site 10 times a day reading as much as I can. I think you guys are great. However, I had a few things I wanted to say, some good, some not. Negative stuff first.

1. I voted for Obama. I did not, for one second, stop thinking of him as the lesser-of-two-evils. I understand why a lot of negativity was set aside for the election, but that's over now. I used to come here because the criticisms of Obama on this site were the only ones of SUBSTANCE. The guy has flaws, SERIOUS flaws. While Faux News is talking about Benghazi & Birth Certificates, the good people here are discussing actual problems like frakking and drone strikes. While Obama certainly accomplished many a great thing in his first term, which isn't even over yet, there is no denying he let us down on some serious issues. I understand everyone is thrilled over the victory, and I am not saying the cheerleaders need to go away....I'm just hoping that the good people don't ever stop holding our elected official's feet to the fire.

2. To me, this was not a mandate. Obama was going up against one of the most abhorrent group of Republicans ever seen and he won by 3% of the popular vote? I know that the WAY he won was impressive & smart and all that, but that's just a numbers game. With all the terrible things Repubs were saying, and all the terrible things they have done since 2000, 3% was the best we could do?

The only caveat to that would be the #1 item on my positive list:

1. Could you imagine what the numbers would look like WITHOUT all the Republican tricks that were used to steal the election? Tampering with ballots, rigging machines, 100 & 1 flavors of voter suppression. I can only imagine what the numbers would like like if we had an election system we could trust. Maybe then we would have a mandate that I could be proud of.

2. I think we are seeing the end of the modern Republican Party. I was discussing the matter with a Libertarian friend of mine, and we both think the Republican Party will eventually split into the moderates & the religious wackos. Of course, that will certainly present problems for the Democrats at that time because many Dems will split off to join the "centrists," but I think that will be good for the People in the long run. Just my two cents.

[The Magistrate]

1. I Will Check Back In Here, Sir, when My Grandson is Done With 'World of Tanks'...

Expect it will be fun.

[MrScorpio]

2. I've got a show to do

I'm posting this to check back later. I'm interested in seeing the reaction.

[JI7]

3. you first say Obama did not win by enough and then say it's the end of the Republican Party

[morningglory]

4. Newt Gingrich once told Bill Clinton that "teh repoops" do not have an

agenda that anyone would vote for, so they have to lie. Also, (not Newtie's, but my opinion) They would get 30 percent of the vote without the loony toon right nutjobs. What elections will they be winning with that base?

[monmouth3]

5. Geez hon, I think that bus for Freeperville pulled out a while ago...n/t

[JaneyVee]

6. BS. Of course he has a mandate. His whole campaign was banking on taxing the rich & Obamacare

And the people accepted, 332-206.

[Quantess]

7. Cheers to you!

You have figured out how to get readers to kick your OP!

[WeekendWarrior]

8. I think you like being a wet blanket

Just my opinion, and I could be wrong, but most people who say that do.

[Mothdust]

9. if we didnt have obama?

Do you think we would have won?

[NRaleighLiberal]

10. did you really, really, really need to post that? And.....why?

[still_one]

11. Yes it was a mandate. It was a mandate against racism and sexism. It was also a mandate to

Preserve social security and Medicare, and not to privitize them

It was a mandate for equal pay for equal work, and for the 2% wealthiest to pay the tax rate over 250k when Clinton was president. It is a mandate to get us out of Afghanistan and give companies incentives to keep and create jobs here.

It was a mandate for financial regulation, single payer healthcare, and much more

The real question is were they heard. Which is why we the people need to make sure to let their representatives, senators, and president know

[Glimmer of Hope]

12. All of the above!

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Yes, but do you REALLY hate it?

C'mon. Be honest.

[BlueMan Votes]

14. He has a bigger mandate than dumbya ever did...

and dumbya claimed a mandate in both elections.

[graywarrior]

15. I'm saving myself a seat in the front row.

[BeHereNow]

19. And I am right beside you...

THIS should be good!
Pass the popcorn and hold the butter please...



BHN

[graywarrior]

25. .

[Bake]

36. COLD BEER! GET YER COLD BEER HERE!

Goes great with the popcorn!



Bake

[BeHereNow]

38. For the first time in a LONG time-

I'm drinking vodka tonight...
You are free to join me.
Beer just doesn't cut it lately.

BHN

[Bake]

44. GET YER TONIC HERE! ICE COLD TONIC WATER HERE!

Goes well with vodka and popcorn!



Bake

[BeHereNow]

46. Indeed! Popcorn was burnt last night...

But the vodka was perfect-
First time in a long time I slept the whole night through.
BHN

[CrazyOrangeCat]

24. Mrrowww.

Scoot over!

[graywarrior]

26. Let's set the chairs in a circle

[lamp_shade]

16. So you hate to be a wet blanket, eh? Interesting.

[GoneOffShore]

17. Bring back UnRec - at least for this OP.

Please?

[ReRe]

18. BUD.

GO THROW THAT WET BLANKET IN THE DRYER, NOW! Then come back when you'e all snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug. I guarantee you'll feel allot better.

[Egalitarian Thug]

20. Don't sweat it. You wrote your honest opinion and that is what these boards are for.

I disagree with your take on the mandate, but then I disagree with the dominant view of most things. I think this and the three elections preceding it were a mandate, an unfulfilled mandate for significant change by Americans of both parties.
& R

[Art_from_Ark]

22. Do you honestly believe the 2000 election was a mandate

when the "loser" got more of the popular vote than the "winner", and it was ultimately decided by a clearly partisan Supreme Court?

[Egalitarian Thug]

34. The three elections preceding were 2010, 2008, and 2006. I do think that those mandates

were in large part a reaction to the judicial coup of 2000 and the disaster that wrought, however.

[Art_from_Ark]

35. I apologize, I was thinking only of Presidential elections

The mid-term elections, for what it's worth, almost always favor the party that is out of the White House. Whether such elections can be considered mandates or not, is open for debate I guess.

[Egalitarian Thug]

37. In our binary system we can only choose "I like how it's going" or "I don't".

The only way to get a bad Democrat out of office is to put a republican in and vice versa. We voted in Democratic majorities in both houses in 2006 and kept them in 2008. 2010 was not a republican win, but a Democratic loss, and citizens united screwed up this election badly. That's how I see it.

[Poll_Blind]

21. 1. Agree. 2. Disagree. 1. Partially Agree. 2. Agree nt

PB

[progressivebydesign]

23. Not going to waste more of my time on this. But Yeah.. it WAS a mandate.

get over yourself. Life is not a thought experiment. it's real life.

[FSogol]

27. If W wins by 500 votes, it is a mandate. If Obama wins by 3 million votes, it is not a mandate.

Got it.

[Tree-Hugger]

28. Not really a wet blanket.

More like a soggy tissue.

[Indykatie]

29. To This Point Landslides Have Been Gaged by EV Totals

Who doesn't see 332 EVs as a landslide? As republicans noted before the outcome was known 300+ is a landslide, but of course they thought their guy would be on top.

[narnian60]

41. Hahaha. Good one.

[longship]

30. Rubbish. Utter rubbish!

[WinkyDink]

31. "Eventually" comprises a very, very long time.

[ClarkJonathanKent]

32. I understand now.

First, I never claimed Bush had a mandate, so I am not sure the relevance of bringing that up. Second, I mentioned the popular vote specifically because that is the metric that I value. I didn't have a whole lot of respect for the Electoral College when Bush lost the popular vote, and I don't have a lot for it now.

Lastly, thanks for making me feel so welcome. I didn't realize that it was SO OUTRAGEOUS to think that getting 50%-51% of the popular vote was not that amazing, especially considering how awful the alternative was. Sorry for thinking out loud, friends.

[GitRDun]

33. While I would disagree with the lesser of two evils notion

you are spot on in saying Obama needs to get real on the impacts of hydro-fracking and deal with the drones issue.

Obama is guilty of leading a false narrative on gas versus coal. He completely ignores the environmental impacts of methane releases, which makes gas potentially as bad as coal, if these releases are not required to be minimized.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fracking-would-emit-methane

The drone strikes are not good long term policy for peace.

I would add some other issues as well:

Closing Guantanamo - He should be fighting his own party to close this house of horrors. There are tons of folks cleared for release still there. If you are worried about recidivism, check out the record of our prison system.

Guantanamo Trials - WTF are we waiting for?

Patriot Act - Really? "The Patriot Act has been used improperly again and again by law enforcement to invade Americans' privacy and violate their constitutional rights," said Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington legislative office.

Failing to hold the big banks accountable for their crimes.

BP Oil Spill - There are a number of things I would quarrel with here.

There are other issues as well.

The thing for me is though, he really does give a rip about people and has shown the ability to learn over time, changing his position when warranted. His accomplishments are also far more than his failings in my mind, so despite some disappointments, I was happy to vote for him.

[MadrasT]

39. I agree with this.

Spot on.

Mindless cheerleading does not work for me.

[union_maid]

42. It's been less than a week

Could we maybe just hold the wet blankets for little while? And although you have the absolute right to say it, I find "lesser of two evils" deeply offensive in the case of Obama. He might not be all you wanted, but considering how the rightwing has been trying to paint him as truly evil, I really take exception to that characterization. I understand I'm only speaking for myself and you have no particular reason to care about one reaction, but there is it anyway.

[NNN0LHI]

43. Dude ...

I can see why you don't post much here.

No one likes reading tripe like this OP around here.

"Libertarian friend of mine", ...

Don

[Lucinda]

45. The Reps themselves established that those electoral college numbers = landslide

Which = mandate.
You can't unmake a landslide just because the other guy wins.