The illusion of a mandate

Posted 11/27/12

To the Editor: The quadrennial circus known as the general election is thankfully over. However, no one should view the reelection of the ineffectual intellectual Barack H. Obama as any sort of …

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The illusion of a mandate

Posted

To the Editor:

The quadrennial circus known as the general election is thankfully over. However, no one should view the reelection of the ineffectual intellectual Barack H. Obama as any sort of mandate. In fact, the result was more of a rejection of the mercurial chameleon Willard M. Romney rather than an endorsement of Obama and his policies.
According to the Gallup polling organization, Mr. Obama’s average approval rating since ascending to office is 49 percent, which is hardly a ringing endorsement of his performance thus far. With the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics evaluating the unemployment rate to be 7.9 percent, and the U.S. Census Bureau stating the International Trade Deficit is a pathetic $41.5 billion, one must ask that since the president’s policies have failed to move these economic statistics in a positive direction, why would the electorate give him a second term?
One should keep in mind that only 58 percent of eligible voters deigned to cast their ballot, and the margin of the popular vote victory was only 3.3 percent. Also, the brave new world where minorities are fast becoming majorities that now hold the power to affect elections have caused many a political operative to rethink their entire election strategies.
Considering these realities, the president needs to embrace new paradigms and become more conciliatory when moving the administration forward. He needs to reconfigure policies to create a sanguine environment for business to flourish and grow as opposed to his well-earned reputation for being adverse to the business community. He needs to address the vitally important issues of the fiscal cliff, the ever-growing deficit, and the runaway excesses of entitlement programs with a preference for capitalism, not socialism. He needs to temper federal regulation with allowances for business growth. He needs to balance the burdens on the taxpayer with the virtual open sanctuary policies toward illegal immigrants that are choking our school systems and straining our public assistance programs.
More concisely, he needs to stop acting like a president who is a servant of a liberal class of people who are dependant upon government and who tilted the election in his favor.
Moreover, he needs to realize that his return to office was not a mandate but a reprieve. Now it is time to serve all the people and not a favored ideological few.

Christopher M. Curran
West Warwick

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  • davebarry109

    Lots of luck. He no doubt sees his re-election as a mandate. Very arrogant.

    Tuesday, November 27, 2012 Report this