The Real 2008 Mandate: Voters choose FDR over Reagan

[jgraz]

The competition has already started to spin Obama's mandate. We need to make it clear that this was a victory for progressivism and a straight-up loss for conservatism.

John McCain and Barack Obama have made the race's final weeks an ideological proxy war between two presidential icons who still loom larger than them: Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt.

McCain promises to "follow in tradition and in his footsteps" while vilifying Obama as a 1930s-era "socialist" looking to "redistribute wealth." Obama counters by invoking Roosevelt's speeches and depicting the financial meltdown as "the final verdict" on McCain's "failed philosophy" (i.e., Reaganism).

<snip>

"As the Republican ticket continues to run against the very idea of progressive politics, they are sowing the seeds of the post-election realignment narrative," writes The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, adding that a McCain loss in such an ideologically polarized contest means "Democrats can justifiably claim that conservatism itself has been rejected."

That would be the very mandate for "direct, vigorous action" Roosevelt described in his 1933 inaugural address. Should a President Obama try to capitalize on it, he will have nothing to fear but fear itself.

http://www.creators.com/opinion/david-sirota/mandate-08-reagan-vs-fdr.html

[GetTheRightVote]

1. You are right this is a move towards FDR and his beliefs, I only hope that Obama comes thru for us

:kick:

[jgraz]

3. Just like with the election, WE have to come thru for us

The real work starts today. We need to not only hold Obama to his campaign ideals, we need to push him even further if we really want to clean up the mess we're in.

[blm]

2. I agree. And hope they voted for new era of open government over the decades of closed government

.

[ihavenobias]

4. K & R

I always enjoy Sirota.

[Armstead]

5. K&R -- This was a liberal victory -- We shouldn't ignoire that

[Two Americas]

6. don't agree with that

If I may, I would like to offer a different view of this. Modern liberalism were not endorsed and it would be a dangerous mistake to assume that. The extreme right wing was rejected, and the New Deal ideas were endorsed. Modern liberalism has strayed a long, long way from FDR New Deal Democratic principles and ideals. If we ignore that we will open the door for the right wingers to return to power.

We won despite the fact that the party has strayed a long way from the New Deal, not because of that.

[nam78_two]

7. K&R.nt

[ROh70]

8. FDR & JFK over reagan & wallace

[Two Americas]

9. that is important

This was not a battle between post-60's liberalism and Bush Republicanism, in the eyes of the voters. It was a battle between Reagan politics and FDR politics, and therefore it was the battle over the issues of the depression era, not the issues from the battle of the 60's.

George Bailey beat Shirley Temple.

I think the very young and the very old won this one (with the exception of one old guy from Arizona lol).

Thanks youngsters, from an old fart.