I didn't know anything about the 1992 election until really going back and reading some articles. Bill Clinton didn't win the nomination until well into the process, and he only won like 55% of the popular vote. It was a very contested election and the Democrats went on to win the election and beat Bush I when he actually was POPULAR for the success of Iraq War I.
It was just the economy and dissolution in the Republican party (the libertarians went Perot, the old style Republicans went Bush).
Today we have a failed war, a failed economy, a split Republican party, and a Republican that isn't loved by the base.
The more I objectively look at things maybe Obama should stick to the gameplan of focus on change.
Here's an interesting blast from the past:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...3A25754C0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Democrats; CLINTON SELECTS SENATOR GORE OF TENNESSEE AS RUNNING MATE
By GWEN IFILL,
Published: July 10, 1992
Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas today selected Senator Al Gore of Tennessee to join him as his Vice-Presidential running mate when he receives the Democratic nomination for President in New York next week.
In making the much-anticipated announcement on the lawn of the Governor's mansion here,
Mr. Clinton emphasized Mr. Gore's experience in foreign policy and the environment. And with their wives and children arrayed behind them in the baking noonday sun, both men spoke of their commitment to family values.
Mr. Clinton offered Mr. Gore the position during a 20-minute conversation shortly before midnight on Wednesday. Relative Youth Stressed
If elected,
Mr. Gore, 44 years old, and Mr. Clinton, 45, would be the youngest team to make it to the White House in the country's history.
Aides to the Arkansas Governor emphasized their relative
youth as a positive factor in an election year that has turned on which candidate can offer the best formula for change, a pointed to reference to President Bush, 68, who has been a member of the Washington establishment for more than two decades.
"Throughout American history, each generation has passed on leadership to the next," Mr. Gore said. "That time has come again, the time for a new generation of leadership for the United States of America." Ready to Battle in South
In selecting a fellow Southerner, Mr. Clinton cast aside traditional strategies for choosing a Vice-Presidential running mate that have dictated the need for geographical diversity to balance the ticket.
The choice also signaled that the Democrats were ready to battle the Republicans to regain control of the South and gather the support of swing voters who are concerned about the environment.
"The running mate I have chosen is a leader of great strength, integrity and stature, a father who like me loves his children and shares my hunger to turn this economy around, to change our country and to do it so that we don't raise the first generation of children to do worse than their parents," Mr. Clinton said to a crowd of supporters and friends.
But the wisdom of Mr. Clinton's choice was immediately questioned by the
Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has twice unsucessfully sought the Democratic nomination for President and has on several occasions offered himself as a Vice-Presidential running mate.
"I have deep concerns about the ticket. It takes two wings to fly and here you have two of the same wing."
And
Republican campaign officials quickly denounced Mr. Gore as a liberal and said the Clinton-Gore combination would be far out of the mainstream.
"We think it shows Clinton is operating from weakness," said Frederic V. Malek, the manager of the Bush campaign. "And he's chosen somebody to cover those weaknesses -- his lack of a military record, his association with liberal social values, and his need to strengthen himself in the South, his own home region."
Ross Perot, the still-undeclared independent candidate for President, has focused most of his attacks on Mr. Bush and had only kind words for Mr. Gore today. "He's a fine man, wonderful family, and I think he's an excellent choice."
Mr. Gore, who like Mr. Clinton has tried to position himself in the moderate wing of the Democratic Party, sought the Presidential nomination in 1988 on much the same model as Mr. Clinton chose this year. By seeking to prove that Democrats can be strong on the military as well as supportive of social programs, he is among younger Democrats who have sought to prove that they can regain the White House by retaking the middle ground.
Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore are both active members of the Democratic Leadership Council, a group of mostly Southern Democrats who organized in 1985 with the mission of guiding their party toward more centrist ideals. 'Long Hard Fight'
Nearly a year ago, Mr. Gore decided not to run in 1992, saying he was concerned that a grueling campaign could harm his family. His son, Albert 3d, who is now 9 years old, was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Baltimore in 1989 but is now fully recovered.
Mr. Gore said today that he looks forward to a "long hard fight" in the general election campaign. He also took up the Clinton campaign's theme that the ticket would point the country in a new direction.
"I believe in my heart that this ticket gives our country the best chance for the change we so deperately need, to move foward again," Mr. Gore said.
Successive Republican administrations, he said, have "driven this country into the ditch."
"I believe very deeply that this nation simply cannot afford another four years of the kind of leadership that we have now," he said. "They've run out of ideas, they've run out of energy, they've run out of the ability to inspire people."
Mr. Gore spoke with some force today in denouncing the Bush Administration, which he said "has been trying to divide us for too long." Some campaign advisers commented approvingly afterward that the Tennessee Senator's reputation for substance would contrast favorably with Vice President Dan Quayle.
Mr. Clinton has shown a renewed determination in recent days to challenge the President on the issue of what constitutes family values. In public remarks today, both he and Mr. Gore made special mention of their school-age children and of their wives, Tipper Gore and Hillary Clinton.
The Clintons -- who today stood beaming alongside their 12-year-old daughter, Chelsea -- had to fight backaccusations of marital infidelity and Mrs. Clinton's image as a woman who chose career over family early in the campaign.
The timing of the announcement reflected the campaign's concern that the selection would leak out and its desire to enter next week's convention with a ticket already in place. Campaign officials said this would help them avoid unnecessary distractions during a week that they hoped would focus on a unified party, with Mr. Clinton at its head.
Mr. Clinton called Mr. Gore to offer him the spot on his ticket at 11:15 P.M. Wednesday after meeting with three of his closest aides for about two hours at the Governor's mansion to go over the final list of choices.
Clinton campaign officials confirmed today that the other finalists were Senators Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, John D. Rockefeller 4th of West Virginia, Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania, Bob Graham of Florida and Representative Lee H. Hamilton of Indiana.
In the end, Mr. Clinton went for the allure of youth.
If elected, the combined ages of Mr. Gore and Mr. Clinton would make them the youngest Presidential team to enter the White House. President Ulysses S. Grant, who was 46 years old when he assumed offfice in 1869, and his Vice President, Schuyler Colfax, who was also 46, held the record previously.
As a courtesy, Mr. Clinton called Mr. Graham, who had to decide by Friday whether to run for re-election to his Senate seat, shortly before he called Mr. Gore. Today, before making the announcement, he called the other contenders, as well as Democratic Party leaders.
Mr. Clinton's list of finalists did not include either Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey or Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York, apparently because both men had repeatedly said they did not want to be considered for the post. From 40 Names to 6
Former Gov. Madeleine Kunin of Vermont, who served on the selection team that was headed by the Los Angeles lawyer Warren Christopher, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Gore's name "would come up again and again" as they worked to winnow an initial list of about 40 names to the 6 from which Mr. Clinton ultimately chose.
Ms. Kunin said the choice of Mr. Gore was an important one for Mr. Clinton because the Democratic nominee would be "defined by the choices he makes."
Campaign officials said they expected the selection of Mr. Gore to be especially helpful in California, where voters express special concern about the environment. Mr. Gore, who has long been a champion of environmental issues in Congress, wrote a a best-selling book, "Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit" (Houghton Mifflin, 1992), that made it to The New York Times best-seller list.
Stan Greenberg, the campaign's poll taker, said the all-Southern ticket would put states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina "readily in reach" for Democrats for the first time since Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976.
He said Mr. Clinton's Southern roots alone might not have been enough to win the South because of the virtual certainty that Mr. Perot, the billionaire from Texas, would be in the race along with President Bush, who also calls Texas his home.
Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore will hold a joint news conference here on Friday before Mr. Gore and his family return to Tennessee. They plan to campaign together in Nashville on Saturday before flying to New York for the Democratic National Convention. After the convention, the two men will travel together on a five-day bus tour from New York to St. Louis.
Correction: July 11, 1992, Saturday
An article yesterday about the selection of Senator Al Gore as Gov. Bill Clinton's running mate misstated his age and President Bush's in some copies. Mr. Clinton is 45 years old, not 46; Mr. Bush is 68, not 67.
Republicans are going to use the same old tired tactics again and again.
Obama is "too liberal"
Obama is "out of the mainstream"
Obama is "weak on national defense"
Obama is "not experienced"
Obama will "raise taxes"
There's zero reason for Obama to have Hillary on his ticket, it defeats the purpose, there will be no Obama-Hillary ticket. The 1992 election proves there is no need to have a particular alliance between them. And as far as the Republican attacks? They won't work.
