IMO he isn't changing anything yet. Appointing a cabinet full of Washington insiders, including those he said many, many bad things about. And he is already backpedaling on his taxation policies. I don't think that the 48% of Americans that voted for him want the kind of change he is offering, and many more that did vote for him are having their minds changed about the guy already...

Bush won by a much smaller margin in 2004 and he AND the press claimed he had a mandate. So by their standard, sure, Obama has a mandate and I think MOST Americans support his agenda right now. Probably as things get worse, people will complain he's not doing enough and he's not working fast enough; as things get better, people will start to quibble with how things were done.

"I don't think that the 48% of Americans that voted for him want the kind of change he is offering, and many more that did vote for him are having their minds changed about the guy already..."

Hahaha. Where do you gt these numbers from? A lot of this is wishful thinking on your part. Laughable stuff, at best.

"And he is already backpedaling on his taxation policies."

I IMPLORE you to cite this. Please.

I think anyone who wins this election can consider himself or herself to have a mandate to make improvements and move this country in a better direction.

"many more that did vote for him are having their minds changed about the guy already."

Who are these people of whom you speak?

"Wisdom is not the monopoly of any one party."

Wise words indeed.

Hainan when you talk about Obama's tax policy do you mean allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2011 rather than repealing them sooner?

Well, both major party candidates ran and said the would bring change to Washington. Since 98% of voters picked one or the other and Bush's approval ratings are approaching single digits, I'd say it's fair to think he has "a mandate to move the country in a new direction, and not continue the same old practices that have gotten us into the fix that we're in."

""many more that did vote for him are having their minds changed about the guy already."

Who are these people of whom you speak?"

I have definitely changed my mind. I was promised free gas, free housing, free health care, no taxes, and a puppy. Do you think it's too late to change my vote?

I thought we were going to be able to randomly pick rich people's pockets.

Oh, I thought we were already allowed to do that

I thought he could fly. : (

He can, True, they just like to keep that quiet so that he doesn't make the rest of us flightless humans feel bad about ourselves.

What about his unicorn? Does it get to stay in the White House as well?

I think it's idiotic for ANYONE to declare they have a mandate to do what they want. I would agree that most people in the country think we're on the wrong track and that played a big part in his election. However, that doesn't mean they necessarily agree with Obama's vision of change. There is a mandate to move away from the Bush Administration policies, yes, but I don't think there is ever a mandate for a President to do what he pleases without taking opposing viewpoints into consideration.

I know something you guys don't know.

Obama can walk on water.

I can't swim either.

He also claimed that wine was his blood and made his followers drink it! Worse than that whole kool-aid debacle, in my opinion!

Y'all don't know nothin' bout that.

"IMO he isn't changing anything yet."

You do realize he hasn't been sworn in yet, right?

Anyhow, there's no point in getting excited about a mandate - people start second guessing you immediately.

Hahaha. Where do you gt these numbers from? A lot of this is wishful thinking on your part. Laughable stuff, at best.a
48% I don't even need to cite that... It would be laughable that you didn't know that number and yes, lili, thats what I was speaking in regards to
and to all the othaers read my blog I posted.

I simply cannot understand your juvenile hostility

48%? Do you mean the 52% that voted for him?

Because otherwise, well, uh, 78% think Obama is both hot and awesome. Where did I get 78%? Hah! Haha! Laughable!

I think that reporters ask these kinds of questions to get drama, and I think that the editing of his answer stirs up more drama than is necessary. He is organizing his team faster than any other elected President in history, and so far is getting very positive reviews even from many, many Republicans on his appointments.

His answer did include this:
"I won 53 percent of the vote," he said. "That means 46 or 47 percent of the country voted for John McCain."

He added that he was entering the White House "with a sense of humility and a recognition that wisdom is not the monopoly of any one party. In order for us to be effective given the scope and the scale of the challenges we face, Republicans and Democrats are going to have to work together."

...which to me signals that he does NOT plan to do what he pleases, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Hainan: All you need to do is read the first line of TS's comment(#22) to see how wrong you are. Of course you see no need to cite it. It would be futile since that that tidbit of information was completely fabricated.

Just one more thing...

A "mandate" isn't an immediate implimentation of a dictatorship or anything.

Defintion:
"In politics, a mandate is the authority granted by an electorate to act as its representative."

Yes, he was elected to act as our President, so yes, he has a mandate. Much ado about nothing, especially with the humble statements he made.

He can also regenerate limbs, like a starfish.

ahaha I so just realized I put the 48% that voted for him... and I meant didn't vote for him. See simple mistake. I am wrong

"Because otherwise, well, uh, 78% think Obama is both hot and awesome. Where did I get 78%? Hah! Haha! Laughable!"

I really don't like the phrase 'mandate'. It reminds me of the phrase 'mandate of heaven', and I don't want anybody to lead (or 'rule') with that sort of attitude or connotation. I would say, however, that because he won, he has an obligation to work for the things he said he'd work for.

True.

Hainan, if you throw about assertions such as the one about the supposed numbers of people already disillusioned with Obama (when he hasn't even taken office yet), you should expect that people here are going to ask you for some kind of citation.

"Mandate" is just another BS political buzzwords that ceased to have a meaning years ago. Much like "maverick". But that neither here nor there...

read my post jude....
and about the ones that did vote for him, I am speaking from personal experience. Seeing that I know at least 10-15 people who voted for him and already don't like him.... how would I cite that?? And if I personally know that many people, I am positive there are many more in the US
would you like the name and #'s of the people I speak with?
"when he hasn't even taken office yet" but even in citizen's articles they say he is already taking the reigns??? So yes, you can make a new judgment of the way he was campaigning and the way he is now.

and the word "many" is all in however you interpret it.
I guess in order to have an opposite opinion in the lynch mob you have to have sources.

Ahh, yes. Anecdotal evidence based on one's own circle of friends: a great way to gauge the mood of a nation. Well, every single person I know was passionately opposed to Prop 8, and we all voted against it, but we all know how good of an indicator of the proposition's failure that was.

What part of your posts am I supposed to re-read? The part where you stuck by the erroneous "48% who voted for him" statement and said it was laughable not to know that, until True pointed out that you were incorrect in the first place?

"I guess in order to have an opposite opinion in the lynch mob you have to have sources."

No, it tends to be good to have sources no matter which side of the fence you're on. The posters I admire most on here, conservatives included, are the ones who come armed with sourceable facts and willing to present them.

"I guess in order to have an opposite opinion in the lynch mob you have to have sources."

Actually, sources are a good idea no matter what side of the "lynch mod" (--dramatic much?) you're on.

And yeah, those 10-15 people you know are totally representative of the entire country.

Oopsies, "lynch MOB".

And no, we're not discounting the opinions of the now-Obama haters, or whatever you want to call them, but something citable is just a lot more, I don't know, reliable?

I really do have an "extraordinary desire for change," and I really think that the country needs to move in a "country in a new direction."

And I think it's really important to "not continue the same old practices" of speaking in vague generalities that "make me feel fuzzy" and "got us into the fix that we're in."

Organic, I can't speak for anyone else, but I was speaking in generalities in my post because I was speaking in general about all newly elected Presidents, not just Obama.

Haha, not addressed at you Jude. I was addressing my dear friend President-elect Obama.

But you can say dumb crud like "he can regenerate limbs"? Even though I know you were joking, but give it a rest already. I stuck by those numbers because I didn't realize I had made a TYPO, and I apologized for it. Goodness, I could only imagine the torment that would go into being your friend. Never being allowed to make a mistake, not even when you own up to it. Never being allowed to come up with your own judgments or correlations based upon your own relationships. I am not saying that EVERY person in the US thinks the same way as the Obama supporters that I was referencing. I know many Obama supporters that still think of him as their "Messiah". So yes I know that it isn't an spot on representation of Americans. But I also did not say that all Obama supporters feel that way. I simply disagreed with Obama's BOLD statement that "Americans" agree with his mandate. Because where I am from, they don't. Am I at least entitled to formulate my OWN opinion without everyone jumping down my throat?

I don't think it's a typo when you go on to say that it's laughable that someone else doesn't know that exact number, but okay.

No worries, Organic

You actually didn't apologize. Nor did you apologize for laughing when people questioned you.

I'm getting so sick of this site. It's like when you eat popcorn, and you eat so much your stomach starts to hurt, but it's so good you keep reaching for one more bite...

I am sorry I made a typo

I am sorry for laughing when people questioned me.
Seeing as I THOUGHT I typed "didn't vote for him", I could not understand why I was getting such a response. Again I am sorry I made a typo

I know what you mean True. Sometimes I feel like I'm so entertaining that people should have popcorn.

I feel like "I am sorry I made a typo," whether you mean it to or not, comes out wrong. It's like saying "I'm sorry you were offended by what I said," instead of "I'm sorry I said that."

You know?

I don't care that you made a typo. It was the implication that we were playing dumb or actually were dumb that is so off putting. So thank you for saying you're sorry you laughed at us for questioning you.

I totally crack open a bag of candy and charge myself $5 for a soda whenever I see you're online, Organic.

News flash, Hainan--not every post is directed at you. And if you think my comment about him regenerating limbs is "dumb crud" (such eloquence!), then you clearly didn't know that wasn't directed at your comments at all. If anyone needs to give it a rest, it is you.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!