Both should have cruised to an easy victory in a time of peace and prosperity
Yeah, I don't think all was well in 2000. As I've posted already elsewhere:
I think it's quite clear why he won, going by statistics collected in Erika Shaker's book "Great Expectations" comparing American attitudes between 1992 and 2000. The results are...unpleasant. Here's a sampler:
-In 1992, 16% of Americans believed non-whites should not be allowed to immigrate. By 2000, it was 25%
-34% of Americans believed a widely advertised product was probably good in 1992. In 2000, it was 45%.
-In 1992, 66% of Americans discussed local issues with other people. That number was 34% in 2000.
-36% of Americans believed that men should be heads of their household in 1992. In 2000, that number was 49%.
-The number of Americans who believed that violence is a normal part of life rose from 9% in 1992 to 31% in 2000.
-The number who believed that violence is an acceptable way to meet your goals rose from 14% in 1992 to 26% in 2000.
-In 1992, 72% of Americans considered defending the environment a priority. In 2000, 57% did.
-American's time spent watching television increased from 35% to 40% between 1992 and 2000.
-65% of Americans considered materialism a threat to society in 1992. In 2000, that number was 48%.
- In 2000 34% of Americans said they enjoyed showing foreigners that they're smarter and stronger, up from 27% in 1992.
I could go on, but you get the point. Something about the Clinton presidency caused a shift from relatively progressive attitudes toward reactionary conservatism and shallowness. This is why Bush was elected.
I don't fully understand how American mindsets deteriorated so badly in the Clinton years, but they did.
The 1994 Republican Revolution probably had something to do with that and Gingrich Uniting the Conservatives to Witch hunt anybody who's not a Republican. Remember in 1992 the Conservatives got divided between Bush and Perot and Gingrich brought them back together
I agree with you on that point, though I also feel that the rise of conservative talk radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and the introduction of more ideologically driven cable news channels such as MSNBC and Fox News helped to make the political and sociological debates of the 1990s much more negative when compared to prior eras.
