November 8, 201213 yr OK, I will go ahead and answer my own question above. The fiscal cliff was addressed in the first term. In the first two years, no one was thinking fiscal issues because the focus was on saving the economy and spending whatever was necessary to keep jobs and the economy alive. A major part of the fiscal cliff is actually the result of action that was taken in the first term. 1. Bush tax cuts - Those were addressed ... and extended by Congress because no one could come to an agreement. 2. Budget Cuts - There was a bipartisan commission formed and they made recommendations. Congress would not accept the recommendations and make cuts. Instead they built in automatic cuts if they (Congress) fail to take action. So a big part of the budget cuts coming next year that are leading to part of the fiscal cliff are because Congress would not make the tough decisions in the past 2 years and pushed them off till next year. So you see, these issues were addressed and put off. Let's see if Congress and Obama can work together now and agree on a real plan to address all this. They have no choice. If Congress drags their feet again, there could very well be another credit down grade. If I didn't know any better, I would think you contradicted yourself. I guess when you say, Obama DID address it, you mean he didn't really fully address it. He did address it, but now its time for a real plan.
November 8, 201213 yr Will Obama accept that nearly half of the country didn't support him and do anything to accept their point of view? . You do realize that happens almost every election, correct? The highest in the last 40 years was his 57% in 2008. Going from 2008 and back here are the %: 57 55 51 49 55 50 52 53 55 No POTUS gets much over 50.
November 8, 201213 yr Author If I didn't know any better, I would think you contradicted yourself. I guess when you say, Obama DID address it, you mean he didn't really fully address it. He did address it, but now its time for a real plan. That's right.
November 8, 201213 yr You do realize that happens almost every election, correct? The highest in the last 40 years was his 57% in 2008. Going from 2008 and back here are the %: 57 55 51 49 55 50 52 53 55 No POTUS gets much over 50. Anything 53% and above is a landslide.
November 8, 201213 yr Anything 53% and above is a landslide. But 52 or 51 is not a mandate? What are the rules for earning the mandate designation?
November 8, 201213 yr But 52 or 51 is not a mandate? What are the rules for earning the mandate designation? There are none. There's no such thing as a mandate. You either have the political clout to pass your agenda or you don't.
November 8, 201213 yr There is such a thing as a mandate IMO, but it doesn't exist right now. An incumbent President who receives roughly 8.5 million less votes than the last election certainly doesn't have a mandate. And he was running against the runner up to the runner up from the last election. Obama had a clear mandate in 2009 and 2010. His only chance for another one is 2015 and 2016. I'm not sure I can define how a President earns a mandate, but I feel like it exists and that I know it when I see it. I don't see it here at all.
November 8, 201213 yr But 52 or 51 is not a mandate? What are the rules for earning the mandate designation? Not that it looks it will happen but mandate may be measured by states. Reagan had the broadest mandate based on that in both his elections. In 1984 he won all but Minnesota. Nothing like that has happened since and likely will not happen anytime soon. Clinton in both of his elections, Bush 2nd term and Obama 1st term definitely captured states from the other side and had mini-mandates. Tuesday was an anti-mandate. If the Republicans do not figure out how to pull in the Latino vote and get back some of the union vote and single women vote they will never get another mandate. If the Democrats can find another southern Democrat that captures the white and married vote they could capture a 'mandate' the next time around. As of now - we are about as divided as we can be at a national level.
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