Question

[vraiblonde]

I saw Jazz's post about predictions for 2004 and it said that Bush would win but still wouldn't have a mandate except for national security.

What exactly is a "mandate"?

 

[tater]

Originally posted by vraiblonde
I saw Jazz's post about predictions for 2004 and it said that Bush would win but still wouldn't have a mandate except for national security.

What exactly is a "mandate"?

It's what Adam Sandler had in the backseat of Jack Nicholson's car in "Anger Management"

(even though it was really Woody Harrelson)

 

[jazz lady]

I took it to mean he really wouldn't have a specific agenda for his second term as he would not be eligible for re-election and thus wouldn't need to "prove" he's worthy of re-election. Here's the definition:

man·date ( P ) Pronunciation Key (mndt)
n.
An authoritative command or instruction.
A command or an authorization given by a political electorate to its representative.

A commission from the League of Nations authorizing a member nation to administer a territory.
A region under such administration.
Law.
An order issued by a superior court or an official to a lower court.
A contract by which one party agrees to perform services for another without payment.

:shrug:

~edit~

I found this further down:

mandate

n 1: a document giving an official instruction or command [syn: authorization] 2: a territorial possession controlled by a ruling state [syn: territory, dominion, territorial dominion, province, colony] 3: (politics) the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory v 1: assign under a mandate; of nations 2: assign authority to

~end edit~

 

[Ken King]

Originally posted by vraiblonde
I saw Jazz's post about predictions for 2004 and it said that Bush would win but still wouldn't have a mandate except for national security.

What exactly is a "mandate"?

I would say it is what those electing him expect him to do, maintain strengthening our national security.

Tater, that was funny Dude.

 

[Sharon]

Re: Re: Question

Originally posted by tater
It's what Adam Sandler had in the backseat of Jack Nicholson's car in "Anger Management"

Haha! Good one Tater!

 

[vraiblonde]

3: (politics) the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory

But wouldn't any President who won have a mandate? After the 2000 election I kept hearing the press guys say Bush didn't have a mandate. I'd think that, sionce he's the President and all, he'd have whatever rights and powers a President has, regardless of how many votes he got.

 

[Larry Gude]

Mandate...

...in the Presidential sense is what you argue you have if you won.

"I won, therefore the things I said I'd do during the campaign, like cut taxes, are my mandate! The people wanted me so they must want what I said I'd do!"

Or from the other side...

"He did not win by ENOUGH, therefore he has NO mandate to actually do the things he said he would do. In fact, he should either do nothing or, ideally, follow my mandate were I to have one, which I would have had, had I won."

See?

 

[vraiblonde]

Originally posted by Larry Gude
See?

Okay, that sounds right in the context I've heard it used.

 

[Frank]

I always understood a mandate to mean a BIG win. When you squeak one out, that's not a great show of support. When you win by 10 percentage points, the public is saying "we're with you!".

Clinton claimed in his first term that he had "a mandate for change" since a large portion of the population did NOT vote for George Bush. (The fact that a lot of them didn't vote for him seemed to elude him).

Nixon and Reagan however, won their second terms with landslides. A clear indication of strong public approval.

 

[dems4me]

Hi Vrail, I took it to mean - its not a given -- thereby excusing him of our next terroist attack. As for Clinton's comment referred it should be taken in a different context. It all depents on the contest clues that are around the word. Happy New Year.