By: Evan Bell, BCXII Staff Writer

Several weeks have passed since President Barack Obama officially won a second term, and the political press is desperately trying to figure out one important question, one that is even more important than war or the country’s finances. The question is….Does Obama have a mandate? Yes, unlike those other pieces of political discussion that you know, make a difference for the country’s future, we are stuck trying to figure out this burning question of all importance.

Obama’s mandate is that he has no mandate.

Stay with me for a second. Obama himself dismissed the notion of a mandate, only commenting that his mandate is to help the middle class. Additionally, there are those who argue that second terms rarely mean the incumbent president has anything even close to a mandate (George W. Bush tried to claim one after his reelection in 2004, but his plans for privatizing Social Security and immigration reform were quickly shuttered.) Of course, political pundits on the left believe the president has a mandate, and those on the right do not. Obama is not a politician given to political hyperbole, and his allies have attempted to combat efforts that they believe that they have a mandate.

The more likely course that Obama will pursue is what most incumbent presidents do with their second terms: shore up their legacies and policies from their first term (think: Obamacare), strive to make good on unkept promises (immigration reform/climate change), and leave the party in power in good enough regard to make the next nominee politically palatable to the electorate. (Think: George H.W. Bush after Reagan, Al Gore after Clinton).

Additionally, while the American electorate decided to keep the incumbent president in power in addition to his party in the Senate, they also kept the opposition in power in the House of Representatives. Status quo. The better lesson here is not that Obama was given a mandate to pursue his policies with one party rule, but to do so within the funnel of an opposition party. In other words, the American electorate is saying, “Stop the gridlock! Get something done or else!” We’ll see whether or not either party will get the message.