The Game of Gentlemen
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She looked to Joe and he was smiling. Not his trademark beam of pearly whites that he so often flashed for the press, but a subtle smirk of content. “You sure you want to do this? Say the word and I’ll give it all up for you,” he said, always the romantic. Jill replied, “Hell yes,” grabbing his hand and kissing his cheek. With their introduction and the cheer of the crowd, hand-in-hand they walked on stage. The race was on.
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The 1996 presidential election campaign between sitting President Dick Thornburgh and former President Joe Biden is remembered as one of the most civil contests in American history. Biden, who had not been a candidate in 1992, had a fairly close relationship with Thornburgh, who had asked his advice on several occasions. Arguably more influential, however, was that Biden’s senior campaign strategist James Carville was married to Thornburgh’s White House Chief of Staff Mary Matalin. Republicans led by RNC Chairman Lee Atwater publicly called for Matalin to resign (often tinged with sexist commentary) due to a conflict of interest, but the President said that he had complete faith in his staff. Later reporting and investigation showed that there was likely no cooperation between Carville and Matalin and they did indeed keep their private and work lives separate. Atwater, known for dirty tricks, was blocked out of the presidential run and focused his efforts on down ticket elections.
With both candidates having their party nominations locked up by the summer of 1995, some political commentators thought the situation to be analogous to the “Phoney War” phase of World War II – neither campaign wanted to throw the first punch and begin the fight in earnest. Biden’s team was still focused on rebuilding party ties, since technically candidates like Senator Al Gore or Governor Brown could still run, while Thornburgh was still running the country. Additionally, Biden was hesitant to begin attacks against the President in the wake of the tragic UN bombing. But eventually someone would have to get out of the trench and finally go over the top. The campaign’s hands were forced come the Iowa Caucuses, with Iowa native Vice President Terry Branstad, the administration’s mustachioed, conservative bulldog making the first attacks. “We are just pulling out of the ditch the Democrats drove the economy into. Can we really afford another four years of them behind the wheel?” the Vice President attacked, notably not mentioning Biden by name, who was still a popular figure. The driving metaphor struck a tone with the voters and Branstad’s staff would continue using the imagery during his campaign.
President Thornburgh would admit the President’s popular personality as well a few days later after his predetermined victory in Iowa, saying, “I would consider the former President a friend, but I think his policies are wrong for Iowa and I think his policies are wrong for America.”
On the other side of the campaign the chorus was the same. While the President did not poll as well on matters of personality, he was leading opinion polls of professionalism and competency. Referring to Thornburgh’s statements, Biden would reply, “Friends most certainly can disagree on things – I disagree with America’s intervention in Rwanda, I disagree about letting China basically annex North Korea, and I disagree that we can turn our economy around by giving handouts to the richest Americans and ignoring our middle class.” The Biden campaign, despite months of prep work, was stuttering off the starting line, with new hires clashing rather than meshing with the old guard, and with the candidate himself causing some issues. Rusty, Biden’s weakness for gaffes became a focus of the early campaign, since there was not enough news to fill the 24-hour cycle and budding internet coverage. The Thornburgh campaign would get daily irate phone calls from Chairman Atwater, telling them to “go for the kill” every time a gaffe flared up – be it telling a wounded solider to stand up and be seen, or mistaking the Mayor of Columbus for an staffer and asking him to get coffee.
The events of 1996 were a mixed bag – good news with a Greek ceasefire would be overshadowed by new clashes in Chechnya or a coup in Sierra Leone. In February President Thornburgh announced the long-negotiated normalization of relations with Vietnam, another milestone in the end of the Cold War, but was tainted by the news of Iraq refusing UN inspectors access to certain sites and suicide bombs in Israel. The economy was growing, however, and in April the Unabomber was finally arrested. The People’s Republic of China backed down from threats against Taiwan who held their first direct presidential elections.
The real reason for the civility of 1996 campaign likely lies, however, with perhaps not a very positive fact – the electorate was simply not engaged. Polls showed that the country had largely checked out and was not paying attention yet – with neither party having much a primary season. Both Biden and Thornburgh were seen as qualified candidates by most of the registered populace, and even though they differed on a host of issues, their high rankings in “leadership” meant a great deal to Americans. With little else to speculate on, an undue amount of attention was paid to on whom Biden’s running mate would be. Meanwhile, certain Democrats were having late night meetings with Senator Valerie Biden Owens on the Hill.
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She looked to Joe and he was smiling. Not his trademark beam of pearly whites that he so often flashed for the press, but a subtle smirk of content. “You sure you want to do this? Say the word and I’ll give it all up for you,” he said, always the romantic. Jill replied, “Hell yes,” grabbing his hand and kissing his cheek. With their introduction and the cheer of the crowd, hand-in-hand they walked on stage. The race was on.
---
The 1996 presidential election campaign between sitting President Dick Thornburgh and former President Joe Biden is remembered as one of the most civil contests in American history. Biden, who had not been a candidate in 1992, had a fairly close relationship with Thornburgh, who had asked his advice on several occasions. Arguably more influential, however, was that Biden’s senior campaign strategist James Carville was married to Thornburgh’s White House Chief of Staff Mary Matalin. Republicans led by RNC Chairman Lee Atwater publicly called for Matalin to resign (often tinged with sexist commentary) due to a conflict of interest, but the President said that he had complete faith in his staff. Later reporting and investigation showed that there was likely no cooperation between Carville and Matalin and they did indeed keep their private and work lives separate. Atwater, known for dirty tricks, was blocked out of the presidential run and focused his efforts on down ticket elections.
With both candidates having their party nominations locked up by the summer of 1995, some political commentators thought the situation to be analogous to the “Phoney War” phase of World War II – neither campaign wanted to throw the first punch and begin the fight in earnest. Biden’s team was still focused on rebuilding party ties, since technically candidates like Senator Al Gore or Governor Brown could still run, while Thornburgh was still running the country. Additionally, Biden was hesitant to begin attacks against the President in the wake of the tragic UN bombing. But eventually someone would have to get out of the trench and finally go over the top. The campaign’s hands were forced come the Iowa Caucuses, with Iowa native Vice President Terry Branstad, the administration’s mustachioed, conservative bulldog making the first attacks. “We are just pulling out of the ditch the Democrats drove the economy into. Can we really afford another four years of them behind the wheel?” the Vice President attacked, notably not mentioning Biden by name, who was still a popular figure. The driving metaphor struck a tone with the voters and Branstad’s staff would continue using the imagery during his campaign.
President Thornburgh would admit the President’s popular personality as well a few days later after his predetermined victory in Iowa, saying, “I would consider the former President a friend, but I think his policies are wrong for Iowa and I think his policies are wrong for America.”
On the other side of the campaign the chorus was the same. While the President did not poll as well on matters of personality, he was leading opinion polls of professionalism and competency. Referring to Thornburgh’s statements, Biden would reply, “Friends most certainly can disagree on things – I disagree with America’s intervention in Rwanda, I disagree about letting China basically annex North Korea, and I disagree that we can turn our economy around by giving handouts to the richest Americans and ignoring our middle class.” The Biden campaign, despite months of prep work, was stuttering off the starting line, with new hires clashing rather than meshing with the old guard, and with the candidate himself causing some issues. Rusty, Biden’s weakness for gaffes became a focus of the early campaign, since there was not enough news to fill the 24-hour cycle and budding internet coverage. The Thornburgh campaign would get daily irate phone calls from Chairman Atwater, telling them to “go for the kill” every time a gaffe flared up – be it telling a wounded solider to stand up and be seen, or mistaking the Mayor of Columbus for an staffer and asking him to get coffee.
The events of 1996 were a mixed bag – good news with a Greek ceasefire would be overshadowed by new clashes in Chechnya or a coup in Sierra Leone. In February President Thornburgh announced the long-negotiated normalization of relations with Vietnam, another milestone in the end of the Cold War, but was tainted by the news of Iraq refusing UN inspectors access to certain sites and suicide bombs in Israel. The economy was growing, however, and in April the Unabomber was finally arrested. The People’s Republic of China backed down from threats against Taiwan who held their first direct presidential elections.
The real reason for the civility of 1996 campaign likely lies, however, with perhaps not a very positive fact – the electorate was simply not engaged. Polls showed that the country had largely checked out and was not paying attention yet – with neither party having much a primary season. Both Biden and Thornburgh were seen as qualified candidates by most of the registered populace, and even though they differed on a host of issues, their high rankings in “leadership” meant a great deal to Americans. With little else to speculate on, an undue amount of attention was paid to on whom Biden’s running mate would be. Meanwhile, certain Democrats were having late night meetings with Senator Valerie Biden Owens on the Hill.
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