The only time I would get upset is when a party or President thinks they have carte blanche to do anything they desire which is outside of what they campaigned on...what the people voted on.
No agenda is forced down the people's throats if they voted for it. That is Tea Party imbecility speaking.
People fought the conservative Contract on America, but there was no denying the conservatives elected on that agenda had an obligation to TRY and enact it. Others were elected to fight it.
btw: Obamacare was not forced down anyone's throat. A duly elected Congress passed it, a duly elected President signed it into law, and a duly appointed Supreme Court ruled it constitutional.
I thought we were talking mandates here. If almost one half of the country voted against "something" (someone and that politician's specific agenda) and said agenda is Ultimately enacted via the typical political maneuvering/conniving then by definition it is a policy that is being rammed down at least half the country's throat, despite your "teaparty" deflection. Oh and I wasn't specifically naming any policy.
Bush and the republicans thought they had carte blanche at the time and now so does Obama and the Dems.
As for "Obamacare", that's a whole can of worms that has been discussed elsewhere.
(God bless the insurance industry and their mostly successful lobbyists..............)
We are talking mandates: 2: : an authorization to act given to a representative <accepted the mandate of the people>
Mandate - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
In a representative democracy we all agree ahead of time, before a vote is taken, that to have the winning side pursue an agenda that was voted on is not a shoving down the throats of people who disagree. We have elections to remedy things. this is similar to calling taxation in a representative democracy, theft...it's imbecilic.
Bush and the GOP said they had 'political capitol' and a mandate to do what they wanted, not do what they ran on.
Obamacare is constitutional and in 2008 most everyone agreed something, almost anything had to be done on the health care issue. Then the misinformation and manipulation of facts and discourse started and we had people talking about death panels and elders and veterans saying stupid things like get the government hands off their government payments.