Presidential Election Debates: Clinton vs Dole (1996)
The 1996 United States presidential election was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton was challenged by former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the Republican nominee, and Ross Perot made another run for the presidency, this time as the nominee for the Reform Party.
Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were re-nominated without opposition by the Democratic Party. Dole was considered to be the early front-runner for his party's nomination and he clinched the nomination after fending off challenges by publisher Steve Forbes and ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan. Dole's running mate was Jack Kemp, a former Congressman and one time Buffalo Bills quarterback who had served as the Housing Secretary under President George H. W. Bush. Ross Perot, who had won 18.9% of the popular vote as an independent candidate in the 1992 election, ran as the candidate of the Reform Party. Unlike 1992, this time Perot received less media attention and didn't even poll high enough to be included from the presidential debates.
Clinton was initially considered to be vulnerable in the middle of his term as his party had lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1994 for the first time in decades. But as the economy began to recover from the early 1990s recession, and peace continued on the world stage, Clinton's chances to be re-elected improved. Clinton tied Dole to Newt Gingrich, the unpopular Republican Speaker of the House. Dole countered with a promise of an across-the-board 15% reduction in federal income taxes. He attacked Clinton as a member of the "spoiled" Baby Boomer generation. The strategy was used against Dole as his age was a persistent issue in the election.
Three debates, organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, took place-two between the presidential candidates and one between the vice presidential candidates. All three debates were sponsored by the non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has organized presidential debates since its establishment in 1987. The presidential debates were held on October 6 at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, and on October 16 at University of San Diego. Jim Lehrer moderated each of the presidential debates. In the first debates, the candidates received questioned in turn with two minutes to answer and a 60-second rebuttal. The final debate featured a town hall meeting format.
Thee vice presidential debate was held on October 9 at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida. Its format was similar to that used in the first presidential debate. Jim Lehrer was also the moderator for that debate.
At the first presidential debate, the candidates were questioned about education, the economy, medicare and tax cuts. Clinton used the debate to take credit for improving the economy and slashing the budget deficit he had inherited from George H.W. Bush in 1992. Dole attacked Clinton for being out of his depth on foreign affairs. He also challenged Clinton's record on crime and spending, while proposing a tax cut of more than $550 billion. For the most part, the debate was civil, with few personal attacks. But Dole was critical of Clinton on the subject of recreational drug use. Dole criticized Clinton’s policy regarding the illegal importation and use of drugs, saying that his opponent had chosen a drug czar who was “soft” on the issue. He then referred to Clinton’s admission during his first presidential campaign that he had tried marijuana in his youth but “didn’t inhale.” Dole asked the crowd “is that the kind of leadership we need? And I won’t comment on other things that happened in your administration or your past about drugs.” Clinton did not respond to the issue of his own drug experiment. He told the audience that he agreed with Dole that drugs were a serious problem in America. “We just have a different approach. But let me remind you, my family has suffered from drug abuse. I know what it’s like to see somebody you love nearly lose their life, and I hate drugs, Senator.” Clinton was referring to his half-brother, Roger, who had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction and had been arrested for trafficking in cocaine in 1984.
In the second debate, a town hall style debate, Dole was asked by a student whether at 73 years of age he was too old to understand the needs of young people. He replied that at his age, intelligence and experience meant he had the advantage of wisdom. Clinton had a snappy retort. He said, “I can only tell you that I don’t think Senator Dole is too old to be president. It’s the age of his ideas that I question.”
Knowing that he was behind in the polls, Dole continued to go on the offensive and kept up his attack on Clinton’s character. Referring to a number of political scandals that had occurred in the Clinton White House, Dole said “We have seen more than 30 Clinton officials investigated, fired or forced to resign due to ethical improprieties. We have seen three investigations of the Cabinet and one looking at the President himself. No administration has shown more arrogance. But few have displayed more ethical failures.” In response, Clinton fixed his gaze on his opponent and began walking toward him in an effort to unnerve Dole. In what was likely a pre-scripted answer, Clinton replied "No attack ever created a job or educated a child or helped a family make ends meet. No insult ever cleaned up a toxic waste dump or helped an elderly person."
The Clinton-Dole debates were also remembered for an aesthetic reason, a make-up disaster for Dole, who was almost 20 years older than Clinton. His make-up team tried to hide the facial wrinkles, but the end result was that Dole’s cheeks appeared to the television viewer to be enlarged and sagging. One comedian remarked how Dole bore a resemblance to the cowardly lion in the film “The Wizard of Oz.”
In the vice-presidential debate, Republican supporters were critical of Kemp for failing to go on the attack against Clinton, even as Jim Lehrer opened with a question about the character issue. Conservative newsman Robert Novak wrote, "The hard fact is that Jack Kemp, though an inspirational leader, is not a good debater. Over the last decade, I never have seen him win a debate, even against a nondescript Democratic opponent in his last congressional campaign in Buffalo in 1986."
Gore attacked the proposed Dole tax cuts, stating "This risky $550 billion tax scheme would blow a hole in the deficit." Gore began the debate by offering Kemp a compromise: "If you won't use any football stories, I won't tell any of my warm and humorous stories about chlorofluorocarbon abatement." Overall the debate tone was a friendly one. Bob Dole later quipped that it "looked like a fraternity picnic there for a while." The debate received some of the lowest ratings and least enthusiastic reviews of any election debate in history.
On election day, Clinton won a decisive victory over Dole, becoming the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the popular vote, he out-polled Dole by over 8.2 million votes. Clinton received 379 electoral votes to 159 for Dole.
Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were re-nominated without opposition by the Democratic Party. Dole was considered to be the early front-runner for his party's nomination and he clinched the nomination after fending off challenges by publisher Steve Forbes and ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan. Dole's running mate was Jack Kemp, a former Congressman and one time Buffalo Bills quarterback who had served as the Housing Secretary under President George H. W. Bush. Ross Perot, who had won 18.9% of the popular vote as an independent candidate in the 1992 election, ran as the candidate of the Reform Party. Unlike 1992, this time Perot received less media attention and didn't even poll high enough to be included from the presidential debates.
Clinton was initially considered to be vulnerable in the middle of his term as his party had lost both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1994 for the first time in decades. But as the economy began to recover from the early 1990s recession, and peace continued on the world stage, Clinton's chances to be re-elected improved. Clinton tied Dole to Newt Gingrich, the unpopular Republican Speaker of the House. Dole countered with a promise of an across-the-board 15% reduction in federal income taxes. He attacked Clinton as a member of the "spoiled" Baby Boomer generation. The strategy was used against Dole as his age was a persistent issue in the election.
Three debates, organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, took place-two between the presidential candidates and one between the vice presidential candidates. All three debates were sponsored by the non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has organized presidential debates since its establishment in 1987. The presidential debates were held on October 6 at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, and on October 16 at University of San Diego. Jim Lehrer moderated each of the presidential debates. In the first debates, the candidates received questioned in turn with two minutes to answer and a 60-second rebuttal. The final debate featured a town hall meeting format.
Thee vice presidential debate was held on October 9 at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida. Its format was similar to that used in the first presidential debate. Jim Lehrer was also the moderator for that debate.
At the first presidential debate, the candidates were questioned about education, the economy, medicare and tax cuts. Clinton used the debate to take credit for improving the economy and slashing the budget deficit he had inherited from George H.W. Bush in 1992. Dole attacked Clinton for being out of his depth on foreign affairs. He also challenged Clinton's record on crime and spending, while proposing a tax cut of more than $550 billion. For the most part, the debate was civil, with few personal attacks. But Dole was critical of Clinton on the subject of recreational drug use. Dole criticized Clinton’s policy regarding the illegal importation and use of drugs, saying that his opponent had chosen a drug czar who was “soft” on the issue. He then referred to Clinton’s admission during his first presidential campaign that he had tried marijuana in his youth but “didn’t inhale.” Dole asked the crowd “is that the kind of leadership we need? And I won’t comment on other things that happened in your administration or your past about drugs.” Clinton did not respond to the issue of his own drug experiment. He told the audience that he agreed with Dole that drugs were a serious problem in America. “We just have a different approach. But let me remind you, my family has suffered from drug abuse. I know what it’s like to see somebody you love nearly lose their life, and I hate drugs, Senator.” Clinton was referring to his half-brother, Roger, who had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction and had been arrested for trafficking in cocaine in 1984.
In the second debate, a town hall style debate, Dole was asked by a student whether at 73 years of age he was too old to understand the needs of young people. He replied that at his age, intelligence and experience meant he had the advantage of wisdom. Clinton had a snappy retort. He said, “I can only tell you that I don’t think Senator Dole is too old to be president. It’s the age of his ideas that I question.”
Knowing that he was behind in the polls, Dole continued to go on the offensive and kept up his attack on Clinton’s character. Referring to a number of political scandals that had occurred in the Clinton White House, Dole said “We have seen more than 30 Clinton officials investigated, fired or forced to resign due to ethical improprieties. We have seen three investigations of the Cabinet and one looking at the President himself. No administration has shown more arrogance. But few have displayed more ethical failures.” In response, Clinton fixed his gaze on his opponent and began walking toward him in an effort to unnerve Dole. In what was likely a pre-scripted answer, Clinton replied "No attack ever created a job or educated a child or helped a family make ends meet. No insult ever cleaned up a toxic waste dump or helped an elderly person."
The Clinton-Dole debates were also remembered for an aesthetic reason, a make-up disaster for Dole, who was almost 20 years older than Clinton. His make-up team tried to hide the facial wrinkles, but the end result was that Dole’s cheeks appeared to the television viewer to be enlarged and sagging. One comedian remarked how Dole bore a resemblance to the cowardly lion in the film “The Wizard of Oz.”
In the vice-presidential debate, Republican supporters were critical of Kemp for failing to go on the attack against Clinton, even as Jim Lehrer opened with a question about the character issue. Conservative newsman Robert Novak wrote, "The hard fact is that Jack Kemp, though an inspirational leader, is not a good debater. Over the last decade, I never have seen him win a debate, even against a nondescript Democratic opponent in his last congressional campaign in Buffalo in 1986."
Gore attacked the proposed Dole tax cuts, stating "This risky $550 billion tax scheme would blow a hole in the deficit." Gore began the debate by offering Kemp a compromise: "If you won't use any football stories, I won't tell any of my warm and humorous stories about chlorofluorocarbon abatement." Overall the debate tone was a friendly one. Bob Dole later quipped that it "looked like a fraternity picnic there for a while." The debate received some of the lowest ratings and least enthusiastic reviews of any election debate in history.
On election day, Clinton won a decisive victory over Dole, becoming the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the popular vote, he out-polled Dole by over 8.2 million votes. Clinton received 379 electoral votes to 159 for Dole.