Module 8: Electoral Mandate

An electoral mandate in government, and more specifically that of the president, is the idea that voters strongly support the president's character and policies and believe that he got selected because there was a mandate from the electorate to put his policies through. Perhaps this even means he's the "chosen one." It sure does appear to me that Obama had a clear electoral mandate. After years or Bush bashing, the Democrats were aching to get one of their own in office. We all know the media has an unbelievable bias to the left, therefore the media's coverage of how terrible the Bush administration was and how they loved Obama oh-so-much was quite obvious during election time and is still quite obvious today. I believe because of this, the media has played a large role in the electoral mandate of Obama. They've played him up to be this great "messiah" who came to save Americans from Bush - that much is obvious. If they media didn't love Obama as much as they do, do you honestly think he would have done so well? I think not. The timing was right for Obama to take office. Many Americans were tired of Bush's policies on war and the economy and just wanted a face take on it all. Obama being the first African American nominee also played a role in this electoral mandate. Lots of people wanted to be part of this historic moment and may have voted with their hearts rather than with their minds. A majority of the country supported his ideas and his policies and selected him for the job. This is a prime example of an electoral mandate. The voters proved he had a mandate, or else McCain would have won. Not so sadly, that mandate has faded. Obama's approval ratings have plummeted below 50%. Many Americans are unhappy with his performance so far as president and are disappointed that they aren't getting what they voted for (told you so...?!). But hey, it's still early on in the running, let's see what this guy can do. I suppose it's too early to tell if his mandate is running on empty since he just got into office two months ago, but again, his approval ratings are on the downturn and it's been 2 months... a sign of worse to come? Shouldn't a president's approval rating stay high or even steady throughout his first year in office? Perhaps he really didn't have that mandate I thought it did, or else he'd be a little bit more popular with the crowd....