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A Mandate to End the War


CBS has a poll out which makes the point the Agonist has been pounding into rock dust since the day of the election. Americans want Congress, which means Democrats, to deal with Iraq. Since if they wanted Iraq to go on, they'd be happy with the President, it's pretty to safe to say the Dems have a mandate to end the bloody war.

Priorities for Congress:
45% Iraq
7% Economy/Jobs
7% Health Care
6% Immigration

Things don't get much clearer than that. Democrats have a mandate, they were elected to end the war, they should do so. That will mean a direct confrontation with Bush, and they should be fine with that - when your opponent's favourability ratings are at 30% there really isn't much reason to fear the consequences of facing him down.

The thing that fascinates me and disturbs me most about American politics isnt' the extent to which American politicians follow polls (65% of Americans want universal health care, the majority of Americans have opposed the war for some time now) but the extent to which they don't. It'll be interesting to see if the impenetrable fog of beltway opinion they live in is finally being pierced, for once.


Ian Welsh January 5, 2007 - 9:50am
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Ian: First, thank you for

Ian:

First, thank you for publicizing this poll, it will be actually useful to me.

Second, you are right about the poll thing. It's funny. People in the Media keep saying, "Oh, we should never govern by polls of course." with their serious announcer faces on. But we might actually have a better situation right now if we opened ourselves to doing more of just that.

Our virtues are usually only vices in disguise.

Aaron Dellutri January 5, 2007 - 10:02am
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I just find it odd. In

I just find it odd. In Canada if things poll with strong majorities, and as high priority for the population, some party will generally do them. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's bad , but it does reflect the fact that Canadian politicians know that if they don't, another party will and they could get their butts handed to them. In the US, by having neither party really offer to do things that are popular, the blame is diffused. but it leads to Americans feeling like their votes don't matter - vote Democratic expecting universal health care, an end to the war, and real corruption reform and will you get it?

We'll see. But historically, a lot of things that polled as very popular haven't been done.

Ian Welsh January 5, 2007 - 10:24am
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The polling questions are very selective

Only the "right" questions end to the polls which are published in the USA.

It is not my job to help Americans with their Middle East policy, which seems to be doomed to fail, according to the flaws in the ideas presented by the recent committee.

Ian is reading things about the poll which do not exist in it:

More than 70 percent expect Democrats in Congress will try to start bringing at least some U.S. troops home from Iraq — something a majority of Americans hope will happen.

is not the same as ending the war.

American politicians are afraid that if the troops leave Iraq now, the New Fundie Iraq might attack Iran or Saudi-Arabia after a couple of years. The politicians are not going to admit that they are stuck to you nor going to withdraw the troops completely. The Joe Average has no brains to think about this next step himself, but certainly would whine about oil trading at 100$ per barrel. As usually, people want things what they will not want.

Now you should understand why no country is exactly a democracy.

-- 101 ways to avoid the subjunctive mood

Gandalf January 5, 2007 - 11:51am
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Hmmm

This is a bit misleading.
Yes we all want the war to end.
And Yes, we voted for democrats.

But part of the reason the democrats won was because the massive corruption. And in a lot of the races it wasn't a landslide win, it was still 40-60 or a close race.

That's not a mandate.

At any rate, there is no reason to expect that the democrats can "end the war" They don't have that power, other than maybe cutting all funds, which won't happen.

The power of the democrats will be in oversight which will in turn piss off the public even more.

Kryptman40k January 5, 2007 - 12:59pm
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In a two party system

In a two party system getting the results the Dems got is a mandate. If it isn't, then there is no mandate, ever, from any election. In fact the Dems have a stronger mandate than Bush received in either election - if he could act as if he'd won, they can act as if they won.

The Dems may or may not be able to end the war. They are expected by those who voted for them to try.

Ian Welsh January 5, 2007 - 10:19pm
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No

As head prole and used to be middle class "American" I want.
1. A real investigation of 911
2. An immediate end to Iraq
3. Impeachment,incarceration, waterboarding, even rendition for the highest officials who have occupied the offices of what used to be public service.

No I don't want discussions for a "new" course of "action" in Iraq.
You have it all wrong Nancy Pelosi all wrong. I don't want to endorse the recommendations of the handpicked Bush apologist commission. I don't want to endorse the new handpicked "enemy" to replace the Communists, the one used to endorse the new cold war on terrorists. Who died and left us the role of world policeman.

Lasthorseman January 5, 2007 - 9:29pm
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