bq. Too bad we didn’t just have a national election where voters got to decide between health care reform or health care status quo. That would have really helped clear things up …
Of course, McCain didn’t endorse the literal status quo, but this is only a misdemeanor in comparison to the claims about a mandate. Let’s review why this is not the correct interpretation of the 2008 election. Here’s Andy and me:
bq. But do we really know what people want just because they support one candidate over another? We cannot assume that people voted for Obama based on detailed knowledge of his policy positions…Instead people often choose a preferred candidate and then rationalize issue positions to fit this preference. So we cannot interpret an election outcome as a wholesale endorsement of the winner’s policy proposals (or as a wholesale rejection of the loser’s).
It’s also worth noting that anyone who did choose Obama because they wanted “health care reform” would be entitled to oppose the specifics that have emerged from Obama, the House, or the Senate.