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Originally posted by stocktrader23
What exactly does having a mandate mean politically?
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Well, since the definition of political mandate is "a command or authorization given by political electorate to it's representative" I'd imagine that the pragmatic sense of it would be that it would give you the ability to push your legislation through your opposition, as they, wanting re-election, would be worried about alienating their own voters.
It creates a sense of 'political capital' (to quote Bush). Democrats who might oppose certain things more strongly on the part of the administration may think twice, as they may be worried that their base will vote them out the next time.
That's why Rove jumped on it so hard with his spin machine. There is no mandate, based on the numbers - but they definately want to create the sense of one. It's all about spin. I mean, look at the exit polls - Rove says they were wrong about the vote, but right about moral values?
They want Democrats running scared on the moral values issue, to say 'The public has spoken'. When factually, this is observable statistical propoganda. Nearly half the voters, apparently, don't agree.