Despite CNN correspondent Dana Bash's claim that "neither side has a really clear mandate" from the election, CNN anchors went ahead on Tuesday and Wednesday and pushed Republicans to admit that President Obama has a mandate to raise taxes by virtue of his party's election gains.
On Tuesday night, Piers Morgan called Paul Ryan's denial of a mandate "ridiculous, given President Obama was re-elected, he's got the perfect mandate. The American people have spoken and they've said, we're re-electing you. He can raise taxation if he wants to, can't he?" [Video below the break. Audio here.]
That same night, Anderson Cooper referred to ABC News lecturing Ryan on Obama's mandate to raise taxes. "I mean Democrats gained in both the House and the Senate. The President won the popular vote, well over 300 electoral votes, and by big majorities, they told exit pollsters they agree with the President's position on tax policy," Cooper served to "conservative" guest David Frum.
On Wednesday morning, anchor Carol Costello spoke for "voters out there" saying there was indeed a mandate. "I can hear voters out there saying I never want to hear the term 'fiscal cliff' again. I mean, the election sent a mandate. We want something done. Get it done," she pleaded with Democratic Congressman Peter Welch (Vt.).
The arguments from CNN could only help buttress President Obama's defense of his plan to raise taxes at his Wednesday press conference. "[I]f there was one thing that everybody understood was a big difference between myself and Mr. Romney, it was, when it comes to how we reduce our deficit, I argued for a balanced, responsible approach, and part of that included making sure that the wealthiest Americans pay a little bit more."
"I think every voter out there understood that that was an important debate, and the majority of voters agreed with me, not — by the way, more voters agreed with me on this issue than voted for me," he continued. "So we’ve got a clear majority of the American people who recognize if we’re going to be serious about deficit reduction, we’ve got to do it in a balanced way."
