John Boehner Has No Mandate

thenation.com — In July, John Boehner said the November 6 election would be a “referendum on the president’s economic policies.” On November 6, Obama won that referendum. The president was not the only winner. Beyond Obama’s personal mandate, Democrats can point to a clear signal from the voting for the US Senate. The Democratic caucus added two new members—despite the fact that the pattern of contests was overwhelmingly favorable to the Republicans—for a clear 55-45 advantage in the chamber. Notably, the Democratic mandate extends to the House. How’s that? Doesn’t John Boehner have a mandate of his own? Not if we're counting actual votes. In the 2012 voting for US House seats that formally finished Saturday with a runoff in Louisiana, 59,262,059 Americans voted Democratic, while only 58,105,500 voted Republican. It has been seventy years since the party that controlled the Congress did not win the most votes.

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