Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“In 1992, Bill Clinton won the presidential election partly on the basis of his campaign’s false accusation that George H. W. Bush had overseen ‘the worst economic performance since the Great Depression’. Or so claimed Clinton’s running mate Al Gore. James Carville, chief campaign adviser to Clinton/Gore, amplified that message with the constant refrain: ‘It’s the economy, stupid!’ That strategy worked for three reasons: First, third-party candidate Ross Perot siphoned off nearly 19 percent of the vote. Most of his supporters would otherwise likely have gone to Bush. Perot allowed Clinton to win with a mere 43 percent of the popular vote, in part by echoing the false narrative of a crushing Bush recession. Second, the brilliant Bush campaign strategist Lee Atwater, who had virtually destroyed the Dukakis campaign in 1988 (remember the tank ad, the Boston Harbor ad, and the Willie Horton ad?) had died in 1991 at the age of 40 from a brain tumor.” (09/29/26)