# It's Official: GOP Claims 2004 Election was a 'Mandate" for Bush **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 2, 2005, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966 "2005-02-02T12:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/21 "2005-02-02T16:31:01Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > It’s a pity that Dubya doesn’t swing that way because I’d hit that. Hard. I’d have him melting like butter and begging for more. I think I’m gonna hurl! ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/22 "2005-02-02T16:42:00Z")
> [@5que](#): > > I think I’m gonna hurl! Merely because the man is irresponsible, dimwitted, and dishonest does not decrease his physical attractiveness. Besides, I like the bad boys. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/23 "2005-02-02T16:50:10Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Merely because the man is irresponsible, dimwitted, and dishonest does not decrease his physical attractiveness. Besides, I like the bad boys. Plus, he was a cheerleader. (Letterman made practically the exact same observation last night.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/24 "2005-02-02T17:39:56Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=293150&highlight=bush+mandate), we had a number of Bush apologists defending Bush’s claim to “political capital” by saying he never meant that to be a claim of a “mandate” in the election. I think it was pointed out that 1) the statement that “Dubya claims a mandate” was literally incorrect, as he hadn’t used the m-word, and 2) it was pretty pointless anyway to keep squawking about the matter, as he’d won the election and could do what he wanted, or at least what was politically feasible. > [@](#): > > I see they trotted out that spurious notion that because he received more votes than any other candidate, his election constitutes a “mandate”. Yes, he won the election and can exercise Presidential powers. You could Google this. Apparently the G.O.P. will keep trotting out “this spurious notion”, which has the appeal of aggravating to distraction the sort of opponent who cares more about debating semantic points than actually forming an effective opposition. Some people just love repeating the word “mandate”. I think it’s a sex thing. > [@](#): > > It will interesting to see if they deal with the growing conflict among Republicans on Social Security reform, immigration reform and deficit reduction with more lies and deception. It will be interesting to see if Democrats can come up with logical and well-stated proposal of their own on these issues. You know, leadership. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/25 "2005-02-02T17:50:23Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Merely because the man is irresponsible, dimwitted, and dishonest does not decrease his physical attractiveness. Besides, I like the bad boys. How about because the man is a homophobic tyrant who doesn’t even think of atheists as American citizens? I mean, hell, Comrade Hillary has a purty mouth, but yuck! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/26 "2005-02-02T18:08:07Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Merely because the man is irresponsible, dimwitted, and dishonest does not decrease his physical attractiveness. Besides, I like the bad boys. We have quite different standards then when it comes to what makes a man physically attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/27 "2005-02-02T18:26:40Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > How about because the man is a homophobic tyrant who doesn’t even think of atheists as American citizens? I mean, hell, Comrade Hillary has a purty mouth, but yuck! 😃 The best part about tagging Hilary is that you can close your eyes and pretend it’s Dianne Feinstein. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/28 "2005-02-02T18:30:57Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > The best part about tagging Hilary is that you can close your eyes and pretend it’s Dianne Feinstein. […shudder…] Might as well go all the way, and make it Janet Waco. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/29 "2005-02-02T18:35:38Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > […shudder…] Might as well go all the way, and make it Janet Waco. Now I’ll admit, as far as women go, she is perhaps not the easiest on the eyes. But come on, you could brag to your friends, ‘Ex-Attorney Generals? Yep, I subpoenaed dat ass’ That _has_ to win you a bet or two. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/30 "2005-02-02T19:53:15Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > But come on, you could brag to your friends, ‘Ex-Attorney Generals? Yep, I subpoenaed dat ass’ That _has_ to win you a bet or two. OK - twenty bucks says you won’t do John Ashcroft. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/31 "2005-02-02T20:04:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > OK - twenty bucks says you won’t do John Ashcroft. > > Regards, > Shodan Even I would be hard-pressed to work up enthusiasm for that chore. Still, one has to give W mad props for pulling off the election in Iraq (somewhat) safely. (See, I told you I’d compliment the man if he did something well.) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/32 "2005-02-03T02:19:21Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Even I would be hard-pressed to work up enthusiasm for that chore. Still, one has to give W mad props for pulling off the election in Iraq (somewhat) safely. (See, I told you I’d compliment the man if he did something well.) Could you signal your turns a bit sooner? I think I sprained something when the thread veered from doing Janet Reno to the election in Iraq. Anyway, props back atcha for being one of the honest lefties. Now on to Jungle Fever - you get Colin Powell, and I get Condi Rice. First one to finish him/her off gets fifty bucks, and I’ll give you a two minute head start. After that, we take turns with the Bush twins and John Edwards - double or nothing. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/33 "2005-02-03T03:28:12Z")
**Gobear** is a lefty? I suppose, if one’s political perspective is just to the right of Calvin Coolidge, maybe, sorta kinda… Do you actually _know_ any “leftys”, **Shodan**? Or do you judge the honesty of a lefty by their reluctance to admit such? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/34 "2005-02-03T07:12:16Z")
Like a lot of his compatriots, **Shodan** defines “lefty” as “anyone who disagrees with me.” ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/35 "2005-02-03T07:57:30Z")
> [@Aro](#): > > Out of curiosity, what is ‘mandate’ taken to mean in the US? After every election that I can recall, The Media Pundits seem to get themselves into a dither asking/polling/arguing whether or not the result of the election constitutes “a mandate for President X and his vision,” or some such thing. The working definition of _mandate_ is (IMO) deliberately kept vague, because it gives them something to talk about. For example: I have no idea who this guy is, but [here](http://markschmitt.typepad.com/decembrist/2004/11/a_mandate_for_w.html) is an article (one of dozens I could have plucked from a Google search) debating whether or not George W. Bush’s re-election last November constitutes “a mandate.” His conclusion: > [@Mark Schmitt](#): > > That Bush can do almost whatever he wants is inarguable. His presidency has been endorsed. But I can’t bring myself to call it a mandate because he did not do the honest work of presenting an agenda and asking for a mandate. I’m not posting this link and quote to agree or disagree with it; it’s merely an example of this sort of article. So now I go and look up the dictionary definition (only one sense is really relevant here): > [@Merriam-Webster Online](#): > > 2 : an authorization to act given to a representative \ If _that’s_ the definition these pundits are using, then they’re truly being idiots - the winner has a mandate by definition, regardless of the margin of victory. People seem to prefer to come up with their own definition, however. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/36 "2005-02-04T01:58:12Z")
Traditionally, in U.S. Presidential elections, “mandate” has been used to refer to a win by a really sizeable margin; I’ve always taken it to mean a step past landslide. Reagan in 1984, for instance. Just how many percentage points are required would be a matter of opinion, I guess, but winning reelection by the smallest margin ever doesn’t seem like it would qualify. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/37 "2005-02-04T15:11:03Z")
Um, yeah, for those of ya in parliamentary countries where the plurality party in Commons imakes up the executive too, and the executive is subordinate to the legislative: US usage sorta means that an executive or party with a mandate doesn’t have any obligation to consider the views of the minority, on any subject, since the people presumably already repudiated it. It also follows that the people’s choice has to have been made largely on the basis of the topic at hand. There’s an overriding tradition that the President, Congress, and courts serve the entire country, not just the constituencies that chose them, and substantial minority views get respect and action. A mandate only comes with a substantial winning margin, though, and has a brief shelf life. Nixon got a mandate virtually across the board in '72 and we drove his ass within less than 3 years, for instance. Bush didn’t even have a winning margin in '00 but nevertheless has run his administration as if he won unanimously. His refusal to consider that his office is less than a divinely-ordained right, in violence to our democratic traditions, has been the source of much of the anger toward him. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/38 "2005-02-04T15:36:28Z")
Lefty? _Moi_? It is to laugh! No, _mon cher M._ **Shodan** , I am not in any way a lefty. I’m a libertarian with conservative tendencies. I just don’t like Dubya because he is, IMO, a traitor to conservatism. I prefer the days when conservatism meant minimizing deficits, reining in the budget, supporting free trade, and wariness of government intrusion into individual privacy. Your lot are not in any way conservatives, but right-wing radicals who are economically irresponsible, needlessly militarist (good conservatives only wage necessary wars) and repressive of individual freedoms. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/39 "2005-02-04T16:05:08Z")
**Gobear** a liberal? Not that there’s anything wrong with that… ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966/40 "2005-02-04T17:55:25Z")
> [@](#): > > I am not in any way a lefty. I’m a libertarian with conservative tendencies. I just don’t like Dubya because he is, IMO, a traitor to conservatism. I prefer the days when conservatism meant minimizing deficits, reining in the budget, supporting free trade, and wariness of government intrusion into individual privacy. Damned skippy. Bush is a traitor to conservative ideals. Sadly tho’, he ain’t the first - only the current worst example. Bush ain’t doin’ anything that couldn’t have been learned at Reagan’s knee. > [@](#): > > Even I would be hard-pressed to work up enthusiasm for that chore [Ashcroft]. How 'bout Ed Meese? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-gop-claims-2004-election-was-a-mandate-for-bush/287966.md?page=3)