Obama Does Have a Mandate…

…The Congressional Republicans gave it to him. That is just what happened in the fiscal cliff game that played out in the wee hours last night.

An interesting opposing viewpoint can be found at Reason.com.

I’m not even going to go into the disastrous economics involved in the deal. What interests me more is how the whole thing played out. Obama went from a moderately strong hand to a total victory that impressed, though he had all the trump cards in the first place. Fear of those trump cards was more powerful than they actually were and he didn’t even need to play them.

It is fascinating to watch career politicians be manipulated and backed into a perceived no win scenario so very easily. They panicked like little girls on the GOP side. Meanwhile, fanatic socialists on the left are convinced that this was some kind of loss, simply because there are cuts that will never come to pass included. Previous Republican presidents (Bush 1 and Reagan) were gamed in similar budget deals and never saw the cuts come to fruition. Gamed is the operative word, for all of this is just one big game for most politicians on both sides.

So mark my words, those on the left: this was a complete victory for you. Stop with the moving targets for expectations and you might enjoy life a little. This was so bad for fiscal conservatives that Obama didn’t even have to veto it to make them look bad. You should be celebrating.

To those on the right, it is time to realize the Republican Party is dying. The best case scenario is decades in the wilderness such as what happened during the middle decades of the 20th Century. Otherwise, it will take a death of the Whigs scenario with a new party rising, which is far less likely due to the entrenched money involved in running and maintaining a political party. If you know history, a new party is not exactly a good omen for the country.

Historically speaking, political battles are not won by massive numbers, but by loud and unrelenting smaller percentages of activists. That’s the lesson being taught right now and the GOP leadership are flunking class. Part of the problem may be the traditional reluctance to make waves when in the minority, but it has to change. Probably too late for it to matter, though.

I remember having an argument with my brother-in-law several years ago over whose party would break up first. Looks like the GOP right now, since the Democrats have always been good at whipping people into conformity. People on the right are a lot more individualistic which makes them very hard to guide under the best of circumstances. The cliff deal illustrates how easy it is to break them apart.