tended to indicate, or to adopt a harder conservative-
evangelical Christian line, as party officials tended to
believe. In addition, the relative weakening of the
Republican position undermined national enthusi-
asm for impeachment, though it did not prevent its
occurrence.
Further Reading
Congressional Quarterly. Congressional Elections
1946-1996. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 1998. An
affordable resource on fifty years of congressio-
nal elections.
Green, John C., Mark J. Rozell, and Clyde Wilcox,
eds.Prayers in the Precincts: The Christian Right in the
1998 Elections. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown
University Press, 2000. A nonpartisan analysis of
the grassroots movement during the 1998 con-
gressional elections.
Magleby, David, ed. Outside Money: Soft Money and Is-
sue Advocacy in the 1998 Congressional Elections.
Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. Offers
a systematic examination of campaigns and the
effect of outside money. Useful for students and
scholars.
Weisberg, Herbert F., and Samuel C. Patterson, eds.
Great Theatre: The American Congress in the 1990’s.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Twelve essays examine congressional dynamics of
the decade.
Joseph P. Byrne
See also Bush, George H. W.; Business and the
economy in the United States; Campaign finance
scandal; Christian Coalition; Clinton, Bill; Clinton,
Hillary Rodham; Clinton’s impeachment; Clinton’s
scandals; Conservatism in U.S. politics; Contract
with America; Dole, Bob; Drudge, Matt; Elections
in the United States, 1992; Elections in the United
States, 1996; Gingrich, Newt; Health care reform;
Internet; Journalism; Lewinsky scandal; Liberalism
in U.S. politics; Limbaugh, Rush; Recession of 1990-
1991; Republican Revolution; Right-wing conspir-
acy; Whitewater investigation; Year of the Woman.
Elections in the United States,
1992
The Event American politicians run for office
Date November 3, 1992Breaking loose from a crowded field of Democratic presiden-
tial candidates, Arkansas governor Bill Clinton capital-
ized on the health care issue and the faltering popularity of
the George H. W. Bush administration to defeat an incum-
bent president for the first time since 1976 and to break the
cycle of a three-term domination of the White House by the
Republican Party. In congressional elections, Democrats
lost some seats but still maintained a majority in both
houses.In the wake of the victory of the U.S.-directed coali-
tion in the Gulf War of 1991, the popularity of Presi-
dent George H. W. Bush reached levels that had
been unprecedented since polling statistics had
been kept. At that point, the Republicans seemed
unchallengeable. Then it rapidly unraveled from
fall, 1991, to summer, 1992, and the Bush approval
ratings plunged dramatically. The economy fell into
recession, alarming many, and the president ulti-
mately acquiesced to a proposal to raise taxes on a va-
riety of items. To many voters, this was a reversal of
the president’s jaunty and well-publicized 1988
pledge that he would call for no further taxation
(“Read my lips, no new taxes!”). The Bush adminis-
tration now came across to many as being somewhat
uncaring, more interested in business and foreign
affairs than in the anxieties of ordinary citizens. The
Democrats had already tapped into fears of rising
health care costs by unexpectedly winning a Senate
seat in Pennsylvania on the basis of that issue. The
upset in the Keystone State of Republican Dick
Thornburgh by the virtually unknown Harris Wof-
ford had been rendered all the more startling by the
fact that in the early stages of the campaign Wofford
had trailed by over forty percentage points. The
president was now perceived as being vulnerable on
the domestic front. The question was: After three
weak candidacies in a row (Jimmy Carter in 1980,
Walter Mondale in 1984, and Michael Dukakis in
1988), could the Democrats at long last nominate a
strong enough candidate who could capitalize on
widespread voter discontent?The Democratic Scramble It did not appear that
way at first: The field of candidates vying for theThe Nineties in America Elections in the United States, 1992 299