Election Analysis 3: The Mandate

Does President Bush have a mandate to govern coming out of this year's election? Seems like a silly question, doesn't it? But the mainstream media (MSM) has replaced Middle Age scholastic theologians as the kings of stupid questions. How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Can God make a rock so big that even he can't lift it? Does President Bush have a mandate? OK, I'll take the bait.

Well, yes. Any President who is elected has a mandate to govern. People ultimately vote on the basis of issues, and therefore, the issues that a candidate campaigns on must become a part of the legislative agenda. 2000 proved tricky for the President, since he did not have a plurality of the popular vote, let alone a majority. And yet, he pursued an agenda of his most fundamental issues - No Child Left Behind, tax cuts, faith-based incietives. President Bush now leads with, not just a majority, but the most popular votes a President has ever received. Certainly, the most popular President ever has a mandate. The MSM suggestion that he does not is simply an attempt to undo the will of the people expressed on Tuesday.

What then is the mandated agenda?

1. Winning the Global War on Terrorism - The President's leadership in wartime has been affirmed. We will stay the course and win the war on all fronts, including Iraq. The Bush Doctrine has been mandated by the American People.

2. Social Security Reform - The President made no bones about the fact that social security needs to be fixed so that it exists for younger workers. He campaigned on this in 2000 but had to table it because it is so controversial. It is no longer tabled.

3. Making Tax Cuts Permament - A great thing that will happen with no problem in the Republican controlled legislature.

4. Judicial Reform - The President made several things about our courts clear during the course of the campaign. First, that lawsuit reform was needed. Second, that America needs judges who interpret - not make - law. Fillibustering the President's nominees will not fly this term.

5. Tax Code Reform - Get ready for the first serious discussion in our nation's history about adopting either a flat tax or a national sales tax. What a legacy that would be!

Liberal Democrats and the MSM might not like it, but this is the agenda, and it has been mandated. And America will be better off for it.