Democrats Will Be Forced to Learn They Don’t Have a Mandate

(RightWing.org) – The last time Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and presidency, they overplayed their hand, believing they had a mandate they didn’t. Instead of solving the Great Recession crisis, they forced Obamacare through on a party-line vote in 2010.

It cost them big later that same year when Republicans won historic victories in the House and regained the majority. Now that it’s presumed Dems will control the legislative and executive branches again, it appears they may overreach once more, believing they have a mandate for sweeping and historic changes to America.

But, do they have a mandate this time around?

Democrats Could Struggle to Pass a Far-Left Agenda

Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) claim their “unified Democratic Party will advance extraordinary progress for people.” However, mandates ordinarily come with sizable victories based on campaign issues. That didn’t happen in the 2020 election.

Consider the following:

Biden’s margin of victory was only 43,000 votes across three states.
Democrats lost seats in the House as Republicans picked up seats unexpectedly. As a result, Pelosi has the smallest majority in nearly a century.
The Senate is log-jammed in a 50/50 split between Democrats and Republicans. In the event all Democrats agree, and no Republicans join them, they’ll need the Vice President to break any ties.

Does that sound like a mandate to pursue trillions of dollars in new spending to pass the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, free college, and student debt elimination?

Democrats Deeply Divided

For all the talk about unity, Democrats are deeply divided on ideology. The far left and moderates don’t see eye-to-eye. In the House, moderate Democrats derided liberals almost immediately after the election over socialism and defunding the police.

In the Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he wouldn’t support far-left policies that alienate West Virginia. If he holds to that, there’s one vote Schumer will need from Republicans. Good luck with that.

Democrats may have to learn the hard way they don’t have the mandate they crave. They’re going to have to learn a word they think is dirty: compromise. It’s the only way they are going to get any legislation to the president’s desk.

Don Purdum, Independent Political Analyst