Comments on: GOP Sandbox http://www.courageofconviction.org/blog/2007/06/01/gop-sandbox/ Unleashing Courage Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:05:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Courage of Conviction » Blog Archive » What is a Mandate? http://www.courageofconviction.org/blog/2007/06/01/gop-sandbox/#comment-36139 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:09:46 +0000 http://www.courageofconviction.org/blog/2007/06/01/gop-sandbox/#comment-36139 [...] In a recent comment section on my blog, Publius commented on my post about the GOP Sandbox - in particular the whole idea of what a mandate means.  Here’s what Publius wrote: The only caveat that seems appropriate here is how much of a margin exemplifies a “mandate”? Did Arlen Specter have a mandate when he beat Pat Toomey 51-49? How about Will Gabig when he beat Frank Rankin 55-45? Or George Bush, when he won by the largest number of votes ever in history, only to sink to a 35 percent approval rating? [...] […] In a recent comment section on my blog, Publius commented on my post about the GOP Sandbox - in particular the whole idea of what a mandate means.  Here’s what Publius wrote: The only caveat that seems appropriate here is how much of a margin exemplifies a “mandate”? Did Arlen Specter have a mandate when he beat Pat Toomey 51-49? How about Will Gabig when he beat Frank Rankin 55-45? Or George Bush, when he won by the largest number of votes ever in history, only to sink to a 35 percent approval rating? […]

]]> by: Publius http://www.courageofconviction.org/blog/2007/06/01/gop-sandbox/#comment-34866 Sat, 02 Jun 2007 04:50:17 +0000 http://www.courageofconviction.org/blog/2007/06/01/gop-sandbox/#comment-34866 The only caveat that seems appropriate here is how much of a margin exemplifies a "mandate"? Did Arlen Specter have a mandate when he beat Pat Toomey 51-49? How about Will Gabig when he beat Frank Rankin 55-45? Or George Bush, when he won by the largest number of votes ever in history, only to sink to a 35 percent approval rating? Mandates are only as good as the fallout and while everyone is excited about the possibility of a new face for the county committee, progress needs to be made. No one is thrilled about making hasty decisions, but the longer things go, the less interest people have. The only caveat that seems appropriate here is how much of a margin exemplifies a “mandate”? Did Arlen Specter have a mandate when he beat Pat Toomey 51-49? How about Will Gabig when he beat Frank Rankin 55-45? Or George Bush, when he won by the largest number of votes ever in history, only to sink to a 35 percent approval rating?

Mandates are only as good as the fallout and while everyone is excited about the possibility of a new face for the county committee, progress needs to be made. No one is thrilled about making hasty decisions, but the longer things go, the less interest people have.

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