Is there a mandate in this election? I think I see one if I squint.

Even though the rhetoric coming from the party who has gained the most always indicates as much, an election does not always send a mandate to the powers that be.

Do any of you see anything like a mandate in this election?

I see one- an unintended, or perhaps even unconscious one.

The Tea Party mandate includes both the goals of reigning in spending, and strengthening the military. The only path to that goal seems to be: withdrawing from Afghanistan and Iraq; closing some of the secret and not so secret bases around the world; bringing our people home to recover, retrain and replenish supplies and morale; reign in the scope creep and return the honor of our defense department by letting it defend, which is its only real mission.

Any thoughts on this? Or maybe you see a different mandate; what?