d32123
Banned
The 1992 election was supposed to be a cakewalk for President Bush. Following the success of Operation Desert Storm, the President's approval ratings were through the roof and few pundits thought that the Democrats had a chance of unseating him. Indeed, the Democrats had blown three straights elections by considerable margins. How could they be expected to defeat a President whose approval ratings sat at around 90%? It was enough to scare off liberal hero and presumed Democratic frontrunner, Mario Cuomo, from taking a shot at the White House. With rising star Al Gore also choosing to sit out the election, only a field of dark horse candidates remained to challenge the President as he sought a second term.
The Democratic field was diverse. Without a major frontrunner, the media focused on the litany of relatively unknown figures on the national stage. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin received a great deal of attention following his victory in the caucuses of his home state. Former Senator Paul Tsongas was also for a time considered a frontrunner after he won the New Hampshire primary. Over the next few weeks, Senator Bob Kerrey and eccentric California Governor Jerry Brown would each enjoy moments in the spotlight as well. Ultimately it was a folksy and charismatic Southern Governor by the name of Bill Clinton who would come out on top, following his dramatic Super Tuesday sweep. As the Brown and Kerrey campaigns imploded, it became clear that the only thing standing in the way of Bill Clinton was himself. Whispers of extramarital affairs soon crescendoed into tangible accusations that the Arkansas Governor would have to address. Clinton, appearing with his wife in an interview on national television, denied everything.
As the economy slipped into recession, the seemingly untouchable President Bush began to appear a vulnerable incumbent. The Bush campaign attempted to keep the focus on the President's strengths - namely foreign policy with his handling of the end of the Cold War and the success of Desert Storm. They also launched attacks at Clinton, emphasizing his character issues as well as his youth and inexperience. They painted Governor Clinton as a draft dodger, a user of marijuana, and a serial womanizer. The Democratic nominee denied these accusations, as well as claims that he was weak on crime. In order to prove his tough on crime credentials, Clinton flew back to his home state to oversee the execution of Ricky Ray Rector. The Arkansas Governor made his message loud and clear - he was no Michael Dukakis.
Despite continuing concerns about his character issues, the weak state of the economy was enough to vault Clinton ahead of Bush in the polls. The centrist New Democrat was unafraid to play class warrior when it suited his interests, blasting Bush and the Republicans for their seemingly failed "trickle down" economics. The Clinton campaign struck a cord as they attacked the President for reneging on his 1988 campaign promise to avoid tax hikes. The Bush campaign was eager to point out the hand that the Democratic Congress had played in causing the economic downturn. As the conventions approached and Bush still trailed by half a dozen points in the polls, discussion occurred within the Bush camp about dropping polarizing Vice President Dan Quayle off the ticket in an attempt to appeal to centrist voters. The idea died as Bush insisted on staying loyal to Quayle, insisting that dropping the Vice President would "send voters the wrong message". Clinton chose fellow young Southern New Democrat Al Gore as his running mate, emphasizing his campaigns message of bringing change to America.
The Democratic National Convention in Madison Square Garden was a resounding success. After twelve years of Republican rule, the Democrats looked poised to finally take back the White House. The Clinton campaign had managed to shift the national focus away from Gennifer Flowers and towards the lackluster economy. At the convention, a strong focus was put on the rising unemployment rate and the shrinking middle class. After the convention came to a close, Clinton had increased his lead over Bush to eight points. The euphoria would be short lived, however, as once again Gennifer Flowers appeared on national television, this time with documented evidence of her affair with the Democratic nominee. Clinton was now painted into a corner, unable to continue to deny the affair. In a solemn press conference, admitted to having the affair. The campaign was now in damage control mode as Clinton's poll numbers were in freefall. At the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas, Pat Buchanan, who had campaigned against Bush to his right, gave a speech denouncing the Democratic nominee as "morally bankrupt". Following the Republican convention, the polls were within the margin of error.
With the home stretch of the campaign under way, the debates were the next great focus. Since the debates focused strongly on the economy, Clinton had the upper hand. Combined with Gore's strong debate performance against Vice President Quayle, Clinton had once again pulled ahead of Bush. In the end, it seemed like Americans cared more about the state of the economy than the state of Clinton's marriage. The Bush campaign desperately toured across swing states in a last minute effort to boost support for their candidate. They were handed a gift, when, two weeks before the election, another huge blow was struck to the Clinton campaign. The Democratic nominee was being sued for sexual harassment by an Arkansas state employee named Paula Jones. While it was not uncommon for politicians to be sued, and even less uncommon for them to be accused of sexual harassment, the lawsuit only served to play into the image of Clinton being a liar and a womanizer. Clinton denied the accusations once again as his lawyers rushed behind the scenes to reach a settlement. Days before the election, Clinton's wife gave a press conference declaring her support for her husband, but the damage had been done.
On election night, the expectations of America came to fruition. It was far from the landslides that had happened in the previous three elections, but it became clear early on that this was going to be Bush's night. While Clinton had improved upon Dukakis' performance with Southern voters, he had failed to win over the Northern suburbs that had evaded the Democrats four years previous. Democratic morale was at rock bottom. For the second election in a row, they had gone in with a strong advantage, only to blow the election with a poor campaign. For Bush, the election was far from a solid mandate. He knew that he had not so much as won the election as his opponent had lost it. Republicans had managed to make gains in both the House and Senate, but Bush would have to still negotiate with a Democratic Congress for at least his next two years in office. Nevertheless, the Republicans had managed to hold onto the White House for at least the next four years, marking their longest period of incumbency since before the first World War. Bush's victory speech was marked with optimism and hope for the next four years along with the potential for economic recovery. The next four years would be about getting the nation back on track, and America had handed Bush a mandate to do just that.
1992 Presidential Election
President George Bush (R-TX) / Vice President Dan Quayle (R-IN) 317 EV 51.3% PV
Governor Bill Clinton (D-AR) / Senator Al Gore (D-TN) 221 EV 47.8% PV
1992 Senate Elections
Democratic Party 54 (-3)
Republican Party 46 (+3)
1992 House of Representatives Elections
Democratic Party 230 (-37)
Republican Party 204 (+37)
Independent 1 (+0)
As for now I'm declaring this one dead, though I might dust off my notes and make another attempt if I ever get the time to do this.