The Washington Post has an analysis piece today, "Doubts About Mandate for Bush," that concludes maybe Bush didn't have an election mandate after all. Imagine that. Considering the only people who believed the Bush spin was the mainstream media, this is a big concession.
First, they refreshed our memories from that ugly day back in November:
"When you win there is a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view," he said, "and that's what I intend to tell the Congress, that I made it clear what I intend to do as president . . . and the people made it clear what they wanted, now let's work together."But that's not the case after all. The Bush team sure spun their mandate. And, the MSM did buy it. But a funny thing happened on the way to their mandate. The American people haven't bought it. In fact, they're rejecting it.
There's also this chestnut from the post-election spin:
If Bush has misjudged the public appetite for an ambitious conservative agenda, he is not the only one. On election night 2004, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) boasted: "The Republican Party is a permanent majority for the future of this country. . . . We are going to be able to lead this country in the direction we've been dreaming of for years."The Post analysis is filled with reasons why the GOP is faltering. But in what is really an amazing omission, they don't talk to one Democrat. I give a lot of credit to the new Minority Leader, Harry Reid, and to the Democrats for sticking together on key issues. The GOP does not know how to respond to real opposition. But the Post might have asked one of them.
Whatever. The fact is the Bush administration is faltering right now. And, Laura Bush telling a few jokes doesn't change that.
