nomination was congested, and no one at first really
stood apart from the pack. It seemed a replay of the
“Seven Dwarfs” race for the Democratic nomination
in 1988. Many of the potential “big names,” such as
Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, former New York
governor Mario Cuomo, Senator Bill Bradley of
New Jersey, and Congressman Dick Gephardt of
Missouri, had earlier declined to run because of
Bush’s strength in the polls. The individuals who
did contend included Governor Bill Clinton of
Arkansas; Governor L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia;
former senators Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts and
Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota; incumbent sena-
tors Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and Tom Harkin of
Iowa; California’s former governor Jerry Brown;
Larry Agran, mayor of Irvine, California; Alabama
tycoon Charles Woods; and Hollywood actor Tom
Laughlin (ofBilly Jackfame). Also mentioned as a
favorite son candidate was Pennsylvania governor
Robert Casey, Sr., who enjoyed the support of many
conservative-moderate Democrats because of his
pro-life stance.
By January of 1992, many of the also-rans had
dropped out. One of the more interesting contests
was run by the mercurial L. Douglas Wilder of Vir-
ginia, the nation’s first African American governor.
However, his slightly right-of-center focus and his
sloganizing as the “grandson of slaves” did not at-
tract sufficient funding, or a large enough following,
and, facing mounting criticism for neglecting affairs
in his home state, he withdrew. Governor Clinton’s
campaign appeared to be derailed when a singer-
entertainer named Gennifer Flowers claimed that
she had had a long-standing love affair with him and
had even borne him a son. The damage was counter-
acted through an aggressive campaign of denial led
by the governor’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and
campaign manager James Carville.
The Iowa straw poll was not considered much of a
test in this instance, since favorite son Tom Harkin
was running and, as expected, easily prevailed. The
New Hampshire primary saw a tough race between
the respective number one and number two candi-
dates, Tsongas and Clinton. Even after this second-
place finish, it was Clinton who captured the head-
lines in a rousing speech in which he characterized
himself as the “Comeback Kid.” Thereafter, Clin-
ton’s unique brand of folksy charisma, which was to
make him the most effective political operative of
the 1990’s, got into high gear, and he scored one pri-
mary win after another. One candidate, however,
Jerry Brown, remained doggedly in the race and at
one stage—thanks to primary wins in Connecticut
and Colorado—appeared to offer the only hope for
stopping the Clinton bandwagon. However, Clinton
overpowered Brown in the remaining primaries and
handily won the Democratic nomination at the
Democratic National Convention in New York City
with 3,373 delegate votes to 596 for Brown, 289 for
Tsongas, and 10 for Casey. Clinton chose Al Gore as
his vice presidential running mate.Bush and Perot The Republican picture was far
less cloudy. Though it was evident from the start that
George H. W. Bush would receive his party’s nomi-
nation, a substantial conservative insurgency led by
columnist Pat Buchanan generated a good deal of
media attention. When Buchanan attained 38 per-
cent of the votes in the New Hampshire primary, the
president was stunned into assuming a far more
right-wing stance than he was comfortable with.
Though Bush won handily by 2,166 delegates to Bu-300 Elections in the United States, 1992 The Nineties in America
1992 U.S. Presidential Election ResultsPresidential Candidate Vice Presidential Candidate Political Party Popular Vote Electoral Vote
Bill Clinton Al Gore Democratic 44,909,806 43.01% 370 68.8%
George H. W. Bush Dan Quayle Republican 39,104,550 37.45% 168 31.2%
H. Ross Perot James Stockdale Independent 19,743,821 18.91% 0 0%
Andre Marrou Nancy Lord Libertarian 290,087 0.28% 0 0%
Other 375,659 0.36% 0 0%
Source: Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.