I remember back when Reagan was running against Carter the word mandate meant a clear sign from the people that they supported a candidate, but it seems the word has eroded to the point that today it means “squeaked by with a 3% margin.” But at least he got more votes than the other guy this time, so I suppose that’s at least a mini-mandate. The question is, what’s it a mini-mandate for?
I’m pretty sure it’s not a mandate for:
- torturing and sodomizing our prisoners-of-war
- borrow-and-spend economic policy
- having a choice of if and when to go to war, but going in without proper planning anyway
- lying to cover your ass instead of admitting a mistake and moving on
- US imperialism
I expect most Bush supporters would agree on those points, though they may take offense that I’d even bring the topics up. I’m not nearly as certain it wasn’t a mandate for these other points though:
- the erosion of First and Fourth amendment rights in the name of security
- weakening of environmental regulations
- putting an end to the supression and misery long endured by the rich and powerful
- imprisonment or just plain “disappearing” people without trial, again in the name of security
- isolationism wrt Europe & the UN
- nation-building (ironically enough) wrt the Middle East
- discrimination against gays
- giving tax money to religious organizations