On mandates: Obama won more raw votes in 2012 than Bush in 2004

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Monday November 12, 2012 · 10:10 AM PST

2012/11/12 · 10:10

I haven't seen this posted here yet, as the results just appear to have ticked over recently.

A popular meme I've noticed making its way through conservative circles - aided, in no small part, by the "liberal" media - is that Obama didn't win a mandate on Tuesday like Bush did in 2004 because this was a very narrow election, that his 3% margin over Romney doesn't qualify him for a mandate to pursue the progressive policies he promised. I've even seen some - including conservative friends and relatives of mine on Facebook - arguing rather simply that because Obama had (at the time) apparently won fewer votes than Bush did in 2004, we should discount this election as a - at best - a pitch for the status quo, wherein Obama dumps his progressive promises and capitulates over and over again to Republican obstructionism.

Of course, the votes weren't fully tallied yet, and now that we have a fuller count it will be time to move the goalposts. Be on the watch, friends, because by yet another set of the ever-shifting conservative criteria, Obama has earned his mandate.

By the current count on Google, Obama has now won more raw votes than Bush did in 2004!

2004
Bush: 62,040,610 (50.7%)
Kerry: 59,028,444 (48.3%)
2012
Obama: 62,151,820 (50.6%)
Romney: 58,799,365 (47.9%)

Sorry for the short diary, but I wanted to get this out there.

Poll

39 votes Show Results

Did Obama win his mandate?

39 votes Vote Now!

Did Obama win his mandate?

Yes

34 votes

2 votes

"Man date," hurr hurr.

2 votes

Schadenfreude

1 vote

Pie

0 votes

An Open Letter to all US Democrats from a Massachusetts liberal

AaronA

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Tuesday January 19, 2010 · 6:39 PM PST

2010/01/19 · 18:39

To my fellow Democrats around the country, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I extend this message:

You’re welcome.

Today, Massachusetts did you a favor.

Massachusetts replaced the late Sen. Kennedy with a Republican. A seat which has been safely Democratic for 57 years, a seat once occupied by John F. Kennedy, now belongs to a man who sought to deny aid to Massachusetts 9-11 workers, who posed nude for Cosmo, and who would deny emergency contraception to rape victims.

Why would Massachusetts, arguably the most liberal state in the country, opt for such a man?

Because Democrats refuse to offer anything better.

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