Does Obama Have An Electoral Mandate?

I think it is unclear as to whether Barack Obama has an electoral mandate. While it is clear he was elected to change course and policies from the Bush administration, Obama should be aware that Americans have been historically unwilling to adopt a left wing, liberal agenda.

Upon researching for this blog, I read an excellent piece in the "Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism" blog by Michael Preston. He argues that, "Barack Obama better tread carefully. I’m sure that he will. He’s a cautious man, which is one reason that he is now the 44th President of the United States. But if people like Mr. Meacham start to get antsy if Obama does begin to move the country leftward, make sure you show them the numbers from above so they understand what a mandate looks like."


Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism Source


Preston's argument is that although Barack Obama scored impressive totals in the election, in terms of popular vote, states won, and demographics, he has to be careful and cautious about moving the country too far left because America is essentially a center-right country.

Preston's article came on the back of an article in Newsweek written by Jon Meacham titled : "America remains a center-right nation—a fact that a President Obama would forget at his peril."

A great point made by Meacham is that both Republican and Democratic candidates eventually move towards the center in American politics. He writes, "Republican presidents, too, are frequently pulled from the right to the center. Nixon instituted wage and price controls and created the Environmental Protection Agency. Reagan cut taxes, then increased them, presided over the expansion of the federal government and wound up successfully negotiating with what he had once called the Evil Empire. George H.W. Bush swore he would not raise taxes, but did."

These are two excellent examples, in particular the last point about George H.W. Bush saying he would not raise taxes... only to go ahead and do so. This brings me to my point that politicians should not be completely subservient to their party's interests or their so called "electoral mandate". I believe Presidents should be able to adapt to different conditions and changing your mind and or policies is not such a bad thing because, let's face it, the world changes frequently. Socialism used to be a "dirty word" in the United States of America, but today, companies left right and center are begging for government intervention - was any of this imaginable 2 or 3 years ago? Not a chance. But today, it is becoming the norm.

Finally, on the Meacham article, he argues that although America is a centrist country, it is a centrist country that tilts to the right. He argues, "So are we a centrist country, or a right-of-center one? I think the latter, because the mean to which most Americans revert tends to be more conservative than liberal. According to the NEWSWEEK Poll, nearly twice as many people call themselves conservatives as liberals (40 percent to 20 percent), and Republicans have dominated presidential politics—in many ways the most personal, visceral vote we cast—for 40 years. Since 1968, Democrats have won only three of 10 general elections (1976, 1992 and 1996), and in those years they were led by Southern Baptist nominees who ran away from the liberal label. "Is this a center-right country? Yes, compared to Europe or Canada it's obviously much more conservative," says Adrian Wooldridge, coauthor of "The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America" and Washington bureau chief of the London-based Economist. "There's a much higher tolerance for inequality, much greater cultural conservatism, a higher incarceration rate, legalized handguns and greater distrust of the state."


Link to Newsweek article


Added to the results of the NEWSWEEK poll, in which nearly twice as many people call themselves conservatives as liberals (40 percent to 20 percent), I have personal experience of living in Europe. Europeans are much more liberal than Americans (on average), Europeans have universal, government funded healthcare, and in many European nations the government will pay for your education all the way to PHD level. But it is not just those facts that distinguish Europe from the United States in a liberal vain, it is the mindset as well. There is a stronger liberal mindset in Europe, more collective, and more socialist than the United States. Maybe America's fear of going too far left comes from the days of taxation without representation ; which eventually led to the revolutionary war. Whatever the case, as someone who has lived in 4 different European countries and 3 different American states, I wholeheartedly agree with Adrian Wooldridge about Europe being more liberal than the USA.


In conclusion, I think I have accurately displayed that although Barack Obama won a decisive victory in the 2008 election, he will have to tread carefully as Americans are historically nervous and fearful of a left wing, liberal agenda. His electoral mandate is clear, a vast number of people wanted a change from the Bush years, but if he pounds the liberal drum too hard he could ruin his chances of re-election in 2012.