This is What a Mandate Look Like

     After the President's big win on November 6 which confounded much of the Very Serious People and pundits and various talking heads who told us again and again that it would be a very close election that Romney could even win in a landslide, we heard Well ok. But it's not a mandate.

    Now we're hearing what a tough lift gun control will be and that there hasn't been enough discussion of the vaunted political realities of Congress.

    Here is an example of this typical cant in Politico:

    "For all the coverage devoted to how much political capital Obama will spend on the hot-button issue and the details of what Vice President Joe Biden’s task force will come up with, the political realities of Congress have gotten short shrift. Leaders in both chambers have stalled on the issue, using the Biden commission as cover to not weigh in definitively. But even if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were to attempt to muscle through a bill — no sure thing given his own ties to the National Rifle Association and the many red-state Senate Democrats up for reelection next year — there is only the most minimal support among rank-and-file House Republicans for gun control."
     http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-obamas-gun-control-proposals-will.html

     You want a political reality? How about this: 92% of Americans favor background checks-a centerpiece of both the President's new proposals and may even be highest on gun control advocates, higher even than an assault weapons ban.

     "President Barack Obama's proposal to require background checks for all would-be gun buyers has the backing of the vast majority of Americans, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday."

      "Ninety-two percent of all Americans support universal background checks for gun purchases. The proposal likewise has enormous support across the ideological spectrum, with 93 percent of Democrats and 89 percent of Republicans supporting background checks."

      "Moreover, 93 percent of those living in households with gun owners and 85 percent in households with members of the National Rifle Association are in favor of background checks."

      http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/cbs-nyt-poll-92-percent-support-background-checks

      The reality is that with 89% of Republicans and even 85% of NRA households favoring background checks, this is going to happen. Even Republican Congressmen won't be able to ignore this.
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      More on the mandate front: Bill O'Reilly endorsed Marcio Rubio's immigration reform plan-similar to Obama's in some ways.

      http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/01/bill-oreilly-tells-marco-rubio-immigration-reform-sounds-pretty-fair.php?ref=fpb

       Again, I expect this. It's the Kristol Premise: elections have consequences. As do tragedies like Sandy Hook.