Now, to hear Mitch McConnell the Republican Senate Leader for Communist China tell it Americans have rejected many Democratic ideas and now look to the Republican ideal of a return to all the disasters of the Bush Administration:

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he feels the Obama administration for two years had been "ignoring the voters and their wishes." The Kentucky Republican said that produced "predictable results" at the polls Tuesday.

http://www.startribune.com/...

Well, what about Senator McConnell's own past?? Did voters not reject the TARP program fought for so hard by McConnell?? Have they not rejected the outsourcing of our jobs to Communist China, a favorite McConnell passtime?? Did they not reject the occupation of Iraq at a time when McConnell was willing to sink endless American treasure and young lives there?? And do millions of Americans totally oppose the huge money that McConnell has kept floating into the election system as long as he has been in the Senate??  Unfortunately McConnell has turned into the "Teflon Communist Senator". All un-American actions never seem to stick and cause him harm. His many roles in the myriad of problems caused during his tenure in the Senate have gone unpunished.

Besides that, John Boehner who like McConnell was right in the Republican Congressional leadership which rubber-stamped the destruction of our economy and the bailing out of those who destroyed it is also claiming a "mandate" on repealing healthcare and a return to policies that have been proven as failures:

House Republican Leader John Boehner on Wednesday claimed a voter mandate to roll back the Obama administration's health care overhaul, calling it a "monstrosity."

"I think that it's a mandate for Washington to reduce the size of government and continue our fight for smaller, less costly and more accountable government," Boehner said.

Well, if Boehner ever reduced the size of government and reduced any kind of debt for our country I sure never saw it. Anyone else watching who even cared did not either. Thats because he did not do it. He had his chance and instead rubber-stamped the debt, deficit, reckless spending and idiocy that drove our economy off a cliff. Besides, not as many of the American people agree with him as he tries to lead on:

While the Ohio Republican spoke of popular opposition to the health care law, a national exit poll found that voters were split on the issue, with nearly half calling for its repeal and a roughly equal number saying it should either be expanded or left as is.

With all this big talk about mandates and what the American people have said McConnell and Boehner leave this out. The American people really do not agree with anything that the Republicans want. How Republicans had such success is quite perplexing. Looking at a chart for a survey taken in 100 swing Congressional districts shows that Americans simply do not agree with Republicans:

While Republicans today are claiming a mandate for their "Pledge to America" agenda—more or less a return to Bush-era economic policies—the survey numbers show a different story. When asked about specific Pledge to America agenda items, just 34 percent of all voters and 49 percent of Republicans support extending the tax cuts for the wealthy. By almost the same small numbers, they support rolling back Wall Street reform.

Among other proposals from Republican candidates this fall, only 29 percent of all voters and 35 percent of Republicans back raising the Social Security retirement age, while only 28 percent of all voters and 45 percent of Republicans back privatizing Social Security.

Reducing or eliminating the minimum wage draws the support of just 18 percent of all voters and 25 percent of Republicans.

http://blog.aflcio.org/...

However the most perplexing thing about yesterday's election besides Americans simply not agreeing with the Republican agenda is the fact that Americans do indeed agree with the Democratic ideas that were obstructed by the Republican minority:

Instead, the voters surveyed are big supporters of many of the economic proposals the AFL-CIO and most Democrats have called for and want Congress to invest money in job creation and help for the unemployed. Voters say they want:

•A major job creation tax credit for business to create jobs in the United States—89 percent of all voters and 87 percent of Republicans.

•Job creation by rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure of roads, bridges, schools and energy systems—77 percent of all voters and 63 percent of Republicans.

•Job investment to maintain U.S. competitiveness with China, India and Germany—77 percent of all voters and 74 percent of Republicans.

•Federal unemployment insurance benefits extended for those who have lost their jobs and are unable to find new ones—65 percent of all voters and 47 of Republicans.

However as it turns out there is an easy explanation as to why so many Americans voted against their own interests and were so misled:

According to Open Secrets, 74.2 percent of ALL money spent in the elections was spent by corporations—and their spending started well before the elections. In 2009 alone, the top three business industries—the health care and pharmaceutical industry, business associations like the Chamber of Commerce, and the oil and gas industry, spent $626 million on lobbying to defeat and distort President Obama’s agenda.

So while there is a mandate from this election I do not think it is what Mitch McConnell and John Boehner think. The American people indeed want change but the change they want will never come from the Republican Party and has not been coming from the Democratic Party either.

What is important for President Obama and the Democrats to do the most right now is to just simply do what they should have done to begin with. Get tough and fight for those things Democrats fight for. Do not reach out and compromise but fight and make these Republicans in the newly elected House oppose many of the measures Americans know we need.

Despite the elections and the pundits in the media an ideological battle needs to be fought once and for all in this country to determine the course we will take. Democrats made the mistake of not fighting hard enough for the American people over the Republican "base" and now they have two years to correct it. If we fall into the rut of complacency and cowardice once more and do not show the American people we are serious about fighting for the change they want we risk even more disaster in 2012.

If considering some of the Republicans who are mentioned to run in 2012 for President possibly being teamed with a Republican Congress does not scare our leadership into fighting with all the political clout they can muster I really do not believe anything ever will.

Maybe the Mayans did know something after all.....