Yesterday the Center for American Progress boldly proclaimed that Barack Obama’s 6-point popular voter victory represented “[1] A Progressive Mandate.” Really? How many millions of dollars did the Obama campaign spend on TV commercials in the closing weeks to convince Americans that Obama would enact policies the Center for American Progress supported? Zero. Meanwhile, Obama did blanket the airwaves with an ad [2] claiming The Heritage Foundation, a well-established conservative think tank, supported his tax policies. [3] Obama’s claims were clearly false. But his campaign’s insistence on airing the ads [4] after our continued objections proves that Obama did not obtain his vote totals by running as a progressive.
Just ask Clinton special counsel Lanny Davis, who [5] writes in the Wall Street Journal today:
This is a man who defended the right to gun ownership under the Second Amendment; who arguably ran to the right of McCain on broader-based tax cuts for the middle class; who defied his left-purist base by supporting (with more controls) the president’s terrorist surveillance program; who talked of pay-as-you-go fiscal policies aimed at restoring balanced budgets; who insisted to black audiences that black men take more responsibility for their families; and who talked boldly of aggressive military action in Pakistan to take out al Qaeda and bin Laden.
There is clearly a yawning gap between the what the left expects from an Obama presidency and the rhetoric that Obama actually ran on. As to who the real Obama is — a pragmatic centrist or a progressive ideologue — our guess is as good as anyone’s. After all, Obama has never governed anything, so there is no track record to make predictions.
Early indications are, that once sworn in, Obama will move quickly on some small bore items such as [6] expanding Medicaid funding, lifting the federal embryonic stem cell funding ban, and extending time limits on equal pay lawsuits. An economic stimulus package will surely be next, and that is where Obama will begin to be tested. [7] Unions will demand their long-sought goal to end the secret ballot be included. Their employees, especially [8] the U.S. auto industry, will also come to Congress with their hand out.
Will Obama give in to his leftist base and pass a stimulus bill closer to the $300 billion Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has been asking for, or the $150 billion Obama campaigned on? With economists projecting [9] deficits in the $1.5 trillion range, will Obama stick to the fiscal discipline he campaigned on, or will he let a Democrat Congress spend like drunken sailors? In almost every speech, Obama promised that tax cuts for 95% of Americans would be a key part of his “trickle up” economic philosophy. Will these promises even see the light of day in Obama’s first economic stimulus legislation?
The voters who gave Obama his margin of victory are not nearly as liberal as Congress. In a poll of 12 swing congressional districts, 11 of which switched from Republican to Democrat, [10] 73% of voters prefer the federal government to focus on “creating economic conditions that give all people opportunities to create wealth through their own efforts” over “spreading wealth from higher income people to middle and lower income people.” The new occupant of the White House and liberals on Capitol Hill ignore these American voters at their peril.
Source: The Foundry
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November 7th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Yes, but you guys told America he was a “socialist”. Maybe this is a really far left mandate. Or maybe you guys have no credibility whatsoever with the American people. You take your pick.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Lack of credibility is shown in the article so you too may “Spin Away”!
November 7th, 2008 at 12:54 am
Obama won by a bigger margin than Bush did in EITHER of his elections. I’m pretty sure you called bull**** on his mandate comments and claims of political capital to spend, right?
Riiiight.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Actually their is no mandate and if Obama stays as far left as his tepid career has led many of those voters will jump ship and he will be a one-term wonder.
And Eric, leave your vulgarity somewhere else, you only demonstrate your Liberal leanings and intellectual inadequacy when doing so.
As far as margins of victories you are comparing different economies, different candidates, an incumbent, an ex-VP and so on.
A poorly run campaign by McCain and the Fannie/Freddie meltdown did Obama a great favor. No meltdown, No Obama, No Mandate!
November 7th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
But he’s a socialist! Right? That’s what you guys kept saying, right? “Spreading the wealth around is one of the tenets of socialism?” “The most liberal candidate for president EVER?”
And now Obama’s farther to the right than McCain?
Remind me why you didn’t vote for him.
November 7th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Oh, and while we’re at it, “Palin totally knows that Africa is a continent and she totally speaks in complete sentences when no reporters are around and she doesn’t represent an incredible danger to the country?”
And then, after the election, “oh, well, we were just trying to win this thing….”
November 7th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
And does Sweetie have something coherent to discuss or simply stay off-topic?
November 7th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Obama further on the right than McCain?. We only held our nose and supported McCain over Lenin, I mean Obama!
The fact is Sweetie, Obama has the most Liberal voting record in the US Senate and is further left than proscribed Socialist from Vermont, Bernie Sanders.
So when you wish to argue here leave the rhetoric for someone else, you just met a Conservative intellectual who doesn’t wear it on his sleeve like the pathetic self-described elites. I deal in facts and you can’t get around facts no matter how you try to spin it.
BTW: Here is some news about Obama’s latest political advisor. I’m sure Obama is grateful.
November 7th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
You’re the one quoting Lanny Davis on all of Obama’s centrist/right-wing policies, not me.
“who arguably ran to the right of McCain on broader-based tax cuts for the middle class”
November 8th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
If you want to hand me a check I will take it, like most I could use it for sure. I don’t think we are taking the right approach to fixing our economy. Energy Independence needs to be included in the realm of our serious economic issues. Our dependence on foreign oil impacts every aspect of our society and economy. This past year our wallets were emptied by high prices at the pump. The cost of food and every consumer product has risen because of increased production and shipping costs. The average family had no money left over to spend, save or invest. So we tighten our belts, we spend less because we have less and sadly that results in more job losses. We have so much available in the way of FREE energy, solar and wind that can be utilized to replace oil. Hybrid and electric plug in cars would replace another huge percentage of our dependence on foreign oil. We spent 168 BILLION on a stimulus pkg that did nothing for our economy. Now there is talk of another stimulus pkg. Why not invest in initiating alternative energy sources and making hybrid and plug in car technology affordable for the average Joe. It cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gal of gas to drive an elec car. Investing in renewable sources of energy would create millions of badly needed jobs. It is a win-win situation. We have the knowledge and the technology, what we seem to lack as a nation is a PLAN. Jeff Wilson has a great new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is worried about our economy and interested in seeing our country become energy independent!
November 8th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Drill, Baby, Drill