Republicans don’t have a mandate to impose a rigid conservative agenda.
Voters want less government and smaller deficits but polls indicate upwards to 80 percent want Republicans to compromise with Democrats to get things done.
Like Bill Clinton in 1992, Barack Obama mistook his 2008 victory as a mandate for an aggressive liberal agenda—socialized medicine, bailouts for Detroit and Wall Street, and an obsession with race and gender on everything from preschool enrollment to judicial nominations.
Like Clinton, President Obama got his House Speaker fired.
To keep their gains, Republicans must work with the President on taxes, spending, regulation, health care, and trade.
President Obama wants higher taxes on families earning more than $250,000. That would catch 50 percent of small business profits and stifle jobs creation. Republicans should settle for repealing the Bush tax cuts for families above $1,000,000 and declare victory.