On PBS, David Brooks says that Barack Obama's win does not give him a "mandate." Good Lord! By what margin does a Democrat need to win to have a "mandate"? George Bush claimed he had received a mandate from the people in 2004 when he received 286 electoral votes, fewer than the 338 electoral votes Barack Obama has won here in 2008. All the conservative pundits echoed Bush's claim, and the media chimed in on the chorus. Bill Bennett in The National Review in 2004:
Having restored decency to the White House, President Bush now has a mandate to affect policy that will promote a more decent society, through both politics and law. His supporters want that, and have given him a mandate in their popular and electoral votes to see to it. (In The Great Relearning," National Review Online, Nov. 3, 2004)
No, David Brooks, I think Barack Obama has indeed received a mandate by the people.
And I can't believe that I first heard the announcement that Barack Obama is the next president of the United States on.....The Comedy Channel! Jim Lehrer and his guests were taking a brief break on PBS, and I clicked to Jon Stewart's and Steven Colbert's Indecision '08, expecting to return right away to PBS. And then Jon Stewart announced that Barack Obama had just been proclaimed the winner of the presidential election.
Well, I guess the news is just as wonderful announced by a comedian as by a pundit.
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