GOP Strategist: Obama Overestimated His Mandate

President Barack Obama went well beyond the support of the American people for fiscal stimulus, healthcare reform, financial reform and cap-and-trade, says Republican strategist David Winston. Writing in Roll Call, he argues that Obama won the 2008 election on the force of his personality, not because the public was enamored with his ideas.

“Obama’s decision to move the stimulus bill without bipartisan support — followed in the months to come by health care reform, cap-and-trade and financial reform — was driven by a fundamental misreading of the 2008 election,” Winston writes.

“Obama believed then, and apparently still believes, that the American people gave him a mandate to move the country and its policies to the left. He couldn’t be more wrong, because the 2008 election revolved around personality not policy.”