Presidential Election Debates: 1992: Bush 41 vs. Clinton
In 1992 the Commission on Presidential Debates, a bipartisan organization which had been formed in 1987, organized four debates among the major presidential candidates. Three of these were presidential debates and one was a vice-presidential debate. Three candidates met the criteria to participate in the debates: Republican nominee and incumbent President George H. W. Bush, Democratic nominee Bill Clinton, and Independent candidate Ross Perot Similarly, for the CPD-sponsored vice presidential debate, the three participants were Republican nominee Vice-President Dan Quayle, Democratic nominee Al Gore, and Independent candidate Rear Admiral James Stockdale.
The election was remarkable for the fact that just one year previously, Bush had enjoyed unprecedented record high approval ratings of nearly 90%, the result of his successful leadership during the First Iraq War. But in the time since the war had ended, Bush had alienated many of the conservatives in his party by breaking his 1988 campaign promise of "read my lips, no new taxes." He managed to fend off a primary challenge from conservative commentator Pat Buchanan and won his party's nomination.
Bush's popularity after his success in the Gulf War caused many high-profile Democratic candidates such as New York Governor Mario Cuomo from entering the 1992 Democratic primaries. Little known Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, a leader of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, established himself as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination after sweeping the Super Tuesday primaries. He defeated former and future Governor of California Jerry Brown, former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas, and other candidates to win his party's nomination, despite a scandal about an extramarital affair. Clinton chose Tennessee Senator Al Gore as his running mate.
Billionaire Ross Perot launched an independent campaign. His showcase issues were his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and his plan to reduce the national debt. Perot chose national hero and former Vietnam War POW Rear Admiral James Stockdale as his running mate. The economy was in a recession. Bush's greatest strength was in the area of foreign policy, but this was regarded as much less important in light of the recent dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Peace prevailed in the Middle East following the Gulf War.
Perot had actually led in several polls taken in June 1992 but he severely damaged his candidacy by temporarily dropping out of the race in July. The Bush campaign strategy was to attack Clinton's character and emphasize Bush's foreign policy successes, while Clinton focused on the economy.
The first debate between the presidential candidates was held on Sunday October 11, 1992 at Washington University in St. Louis. The debate moderator was Jim Lehrer of PBS. Two nights later, on Tuesday, October 13, 1992, the Vice-Presidential debate was held at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. It was moderated by Hal Bruno of ABC News. The second debate was held on Thursday, October 15, 1992 at the University of Richmond in Richmond. Carol Simpson of ABC News was the moderator, The Third and final presidential debate was held on Monday October 19, 1992 at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Once again Jim Lehrer served as moderator.
Bush ran for re-election at a time when the economy was in recession. Bush was losing support to Perot, who led in several polls taken in June 1992. But Perot severely damaged his candidacy by temporarily dropping out of the race in July, before re-entering the race in the fall. The Bush campaign criticized Clinton's character and emphasized Bush's foreign policy successes, while Clinton focused on the economy.
The presence of Perot in the debates provided a distraction from the attacks that Bush hoped to make against Clinton. Bush had hoped to paint a picture of Clinton as someone who was a draft dodger, dope smoker and a womanizer. Perot used the first debate to appear centrist in order to court both Democrats and Republicans and appeared to be more forgiving of Clinton's actions, seeing them as youthful indiscretions. Perot's actions served to deflate Bush's attacks on his Democratic opponent.
The second debate was done in a Town Hall format. This appeared to cause Bush more problems, while it highlighted Clinton's skills in being able to converse with ordinary people and show empathy for them. During the debate a woman who asked how the US debt affected them personally. Bush appeared confused, and seemed not to understand the question. He looked uncomfortable and the TV cameras showed a shot of him looking at the watch. Perot also failed to answer the question directly and turned the question around to one about cutting the deficit. It was Clinton who walked to the edge of the stage and engaged in a direct conversation with the woman who asked the question. Clinton presented himself as someone willing to be on the same level as the voter, and not superior to them. Generally his message was that he had made mistakes in the past but that he had learned from them. The debate left the impression that Bush was patrician, aloof, and unable to understand the struggles of the ordinary person in the street. Here is a video of that exchange:
The third debate focused on economic issues. Perot did well in the debate and it allowed him to use his sound bites in on the growing debt and how to reduce it. Bush and Clinton traded insults on tax increases they accused one another of wanting to bring in.
The vice-presidential debate was interesting for its presence of Stockdale, a military hero and a non-politician. Stockdale had met Perot through Mrs. Perot's work in establishing an organization to represent the families of Vietnam POWs. On March 30, 1992, Perot announced that he had asked Stockdale to be his provisional Vice Presidential nominee on Ross Perot's 1992 independent ticket. Perot had planned to replace Stockdale with another candidate, but did not do so before he dropped out of the race in July 1992. When Perot re-entered the race in the fall of 1992, Stockdale was still in place as his vice-presidential nominee. Stockdale was not informed that he would be participating in the October 13 vice-presidential debate until a week before the event. He had no formal preparation for the debate, and did not discuss any political issues with Perot beforehand.
Stockdale opened the debate by saying, "Who am I? Why am I here?", when responding to a request for an opening statement from debate moderator, Hal Bruno. He appeared unfocused style during the debate, at one point asking the moderator to repeat one question because he didn't have his hearing aid turned on. Stockdale was portrayed in a very disrespectful and unflattering manner on the TV show Saturday Night Live where he was played by comedian Phil Hartman as slow-witted and parodied for his repeated use of the term "gridlock". His actual opening in the debate did not present him in this manner at all. Here is a video of his opening remarks:
Stockdale later told newsman Jim Lehrer in a 1999 interview, "It was terribly frustrating because I remember I started with, 'Who am I? Why am I here?' and I never got back to that because there was never an opportunity for me to explain my life to people. It was so different from Quayle and Gore. The four years in solitary confinement in Vietnam, seven-and-a-half years in prisons, drop the first bomb that started the American bombing raid in the North Vietnam. We blew the oil storage tanks of them off the map. And I never-I couldn't approach-I don't say it just to brag, but, I mean, my sensitivities are completely different."
Another SNL performer, comedian Dennis Miller, later said in defense of Stockdale's debate performance, ""I know his name has become a buzzword in this culture for doddering old man, but let's look at the record, folks. The guy was the first guy in and the last guy out of Vietnam, a war that many Americans, including our present President, did not want to dirty their hands with. The reason he had to turn his hearing aid on at that debate is because those fucking animals knocked his eardrums out when he wouldn't spill his guts. He teaches philosophy at Stanford University, he's a brilliant, sensitive, courageous man. And yet he committed the one unpardonable sin in our culture: he was bad on television."
On November 3, Clinton won the election to become the 42nd President of the United States by a wide margin in the Electoral College (370 to 168). He received 43% of the popular vote against Bush's 37.5% and Perot's 18.9%. It was the first time since 1968 that a candidate won the White House with under 50% of the popular vote.
The election was remarkable for the fact that just one year previously, Bush had enjoyed unprecedented record high approval ratings of nearly 90%, the result of his successful leadership during the First Iraq War. But in the time since the war had ended, Bush had alienated many of the conservatives in his party by breaking his 1988 campaign promise of "read my lips, no new taxes." He managed to fend off a primary challenge from conservative commentator Pat Buchanan and won his party's nomination.
Bush's popularity after his success in the Gulf War caused many high-profile Democratic candidates such as New York Governor Mario Cuomo from entering the 1992 Democratic primaries. Little known Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, a leader of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, established himself as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination after sweeping the Super Tuesday primaries. He defeated former and future Governor of California Jerry Brown, former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas, and other candidates to win his party's nomination, despite a scandal about an extramarital affair. Clinton chose Tennessee Senator Al Gore as his running mate.
Billionaire Ross Perot launched an independent campaign. His showcase issues were his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and his plan to reduce the national debt. Perot chose national hero and former Vietnam War POW Rear Admiral James Stockdale as his running mate. The economy was in a recession. Bush's greatest strength was in the area of foreign policy, but this was regarded as much less important in light of the recent dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Peace prevailed in the Middle East following the Gulf War.
Perot had actually led in several polls taken in June 1992 but he severely damaged his candidacy by temporarily dropping out of the race in July. The Bush campaign strategy was to attack Clinton's character and emphasize Bush's foreign policy successes, while Clinton focused on the economy.
The first debate between the presidential candidates was held on Sunday October 11, 1992 at Washington University in St. Louis. The debate moderator was Jim Lehrer of PBS. Two nights later, on Tuesday, October 13, 1992, the Vice-Presidential debate was held at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. It was moderated by Hal Bruno of ABC News. The second debate was held on Thursday, October 15, 1992 at the University of Richmond in Richmond. Carol Simpson of ABC News was the moderator, The Third and final presidential debate was held on Monday October 19, 1992 at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Once again Jim Lehrer served as moderator.
Bush ran for re-election at a time when the economy was in recession. Bush was losing support to Perot, who led in several polls taken in June 1992. But Perot severely damaged his candidacy by temporarily dropping out of the race in July, before re-entering the race in the fall. The Bush campaign criticized Clinton's character and emphasized Bush's foreign policy successes, while Clinton focused on the economy.
The presence of Perot in the debates provided a distraction from the attacks that Bush hoped to make against Clinton. Bush had hoped to paint a picture of Clinton as someone who was a draft dodger, dope smoker and a womanizer. Perot used the first debate to appear centrist in order to court both Democrats and Republicans and appeared to be more forgiving of Clinton's actions, seeing them as youthful indiscretions. Perot's actions served to deflate Bush's attacks on his Democratic opponent.
The second debate was done in a Town Hall format. This appeared to cause Bush more problems, while it highlighted Clinton's skills in being able to converse with ordinary people and show empathy for them. During the debate a woman who asked how the US debt affected them personally. Bush appeared confused, and seemed not to understand the question. He looked uncomfortable and the TV cameras showed a shot of him looking at the watch. Perot also failed to answer the question directly and turned the question around to one about cutting the deficit. It was Clinton who walked to the edge of the stage and engaged in a direct conversation with the woman who asked the question. Clinton presented himself as someone willing to be on the same level as the voter, and not superior to them. Generally his message was that he had made mistakes in the past but that he had learned from them. The debate left the impression that Bush was patrician, aloof, and unable to understand the struggles of the ordinary person in the street. Here is a video of that exchange:
Click to viewThe third debate focused on economic issues. Perot did well in the debate and it allowed him to use his sound bites in on the growing debt and how to reduce it. Bush and Clinton traded insults on tax increases they accused one another of wanting to bring in.
The vice-presidential debate was interesting for its presence of Stockdale, a military hero and a non-politician. Stockdale had met Perot through Mrs. Perot's work in establishing an organization to represent the families of Vietnam POWs. On March 30, 1992, Perot announced that he had asked Stockdale to be his provisional Vice Presidential nominee on Ross Perot's 1992 independent ticket. Perot had planned to replace Stockdale with another candidate, but did not do so before he dropped out of the race in July 1992. When Perot re-entered the race in the fall of 1992, Stockdale was still in place as his vice-presidential nominee. Stockdale was not informed that he would be participating in the October 13 vice-presidential debate until a week before the event. He had no formal preparation for the debate, and did not discuss any political issues with Perot beforehand.
Stockdale opened the debate by saying, "Who am I? Why am I here?", when responding to a request for an opening statement from debate moderator, Hal Bruno. He appeared unfocused style during the debate, at one point asking the moderator to repeat one question because he didn't have his hearing aid turned on. Stockdale was portrayed in a very disrespectful and unflattering manner on the TV show Saturday Night Live where he was played by comedian Phil Hartman as slow-witted and parodied for his repeated use of the term "gridlock". His actual opening in the debate did not present him in this manner at all. Here is a video of his opening remarks:
Stockdale later told newsman Jim Lehrer in a 1999 interview, "It was terribly frustrating because I remember I started with, 'Who am I? Why am I here?' and I never got back to that because there was never an opportunity for me to explain my life to people. It was so different from Quayle and Gore. The four years in solitary confinement in Vietnam, seven-and-a-half years in prisons, drop the first bomb that started the American bombing raid in the North Vietnam. We blew the oil storage tanks of them off the map. And I never-I couldn't approach-I don't say it just to brag, but, I mean, my sensitivities are completely different."
Another SNL performer, comedian Dennis Miller, later said in defense of Stockdale's debate performance, ""I know his name has become a buzzword in this culture for doddering old man, but let's look at the record, folks. The guy was the first guy in and the last guy out of Vietnam, a war that many Americans, including our present President, did not want to dirty their hands with. The reason he had to turn his hearing aid on at that debate is because those fucking animals knocked his eardrums out when he wouldn't spill his guts. He teaches philosophy at Stanford University, he's a brilliant, sensitive, courageous man. And yet he committed the one unpardonable sin in our culture: he was bad on television."
On November 3, Clinton won the election to become the 42nd President of the United States by a wide margin in the Electoral College (370 to 168). He received 43% of the popular vote against Bush's 37.5% and Perot's 18.9%. It was the first time since 1968 that a candidate won the White House with under 50% of the popular vote.