How did George H.W. Bush lose in 1992?

[Derek]

1. Read my lips no new taxes.
2. Ross Perot
3. Not removing Saddam

[Derek]

On Oct 1 when Perot re -entered the race the polls stood at Clinton 55%-Bush 45%- Perot 7%, when it ended it 43%-38%-19%. You do the math without Perot  in the race Clinton wins in one of the largest popular, and electoral votes in U.S. history

Yea those polls are possible if you poll 80% democrats. Find what percentage of them were registered as democrats.

[Derek]

Ross Perot votes came from Clinton, the Republicans love to push the myth that Perot voters came from Bush. Clinton would have beat Bush by 20 + points without Perot in the race. Quit kidding yourself, the people wanted change.

Really?  20 + points?  Then, how does Clinton only beat Dole by 8.5% in 1996?  Even if you give Clinton every single Perot vote in 1996, he only wins by 16.9%. 

It is just not accurate to assume that all the Perot votes would have gone to Clinton in either '92 or'96.

Agreed, that's faulty polling and voodoo calculations.

[Derek]

It's this simple, America wanted a draft dodger as their president instead of a WWII hero. We became soft and weak and as a result we were attacked on 9/11 despite signs that security needed to be stepped up. We saw the WTC bombing in 1993, intelligence failure with the Oklahoma City bombing, the bombings of our embassy in Africa in 1998, and of course the USS Cole. Hope you enjoyed having a good economy. Btw, how's your economy today as a result?

[Derek]

I'm not sure what the economy after 2 Bush terms has to do with this forum. It would have been very interesting had Perot not reentered the race.

[Derek]

yea VP doesn't make much difference by election day. It's not even a top 25 issue.

[Derek]

He might have I guess it depends on whether or not you want a potato or a potatoe lol. That gaffe was played for 3 weeks while Joe Biden's were covered up. Regardless, Quayle kind of seems like he would've been frustrating for Bush during those 4 years the same as a young child would upset his grandpa.

[Derek]

Yes but the thing about moderates is that if they truly are moderate it means they don't pay much attention. If they paid closer attention they'd know themselves better politically. Meaning by election day, the "moderates" forgot who Pat Buchanan was.

[Derek]

Raised taxes, extension of the civil rights bill, increases in welfare, clean air act, immigration act of 1990, support of abortion rights, spearheaded nafta.....would you like for me to continue?lol

Then I guess Reagan wasn't conservative enough for you either?

Which of those did Reagan do?

[Derek]

Maybe it was 1982, but i dont remember Reagan flip flopping on abortion and i am old enough to remember when he was in office.

What bill raised taxes? Was it income taxes?

[Derek]

Let us know.

[Derek]

most of it was on new investment

uh huh so it wasn't an income tax increase

[Derek]

I would've looked at my watch too. That woman was on Clinton's primary staff. That's like saying you can't relate to ppl with cancer because you've never had cancer. Or better yet saying a doctor can't treat cancer cuz he's never had cancer. Gosh what a bimbo. I bet she had no clue what was going on. Oh and her original question was about the national debt. She didn't even have a clue as to what she was asking until the media helped her out.

[Derek]

I didn't say "know what you're going through." I said relate which can even mean help or encourage. It was a set up. I wouldn't say I love Bush Sr. but I have nothing but respect and admiration for his experience, leadership, resume, and credentials. Unpresidential to look at his watch? Maybe let each be their own judge.

[Derek]

I know you weren't saying that lol don't take "you" literally.

[Derek]

You are a Clinton lover!

[Derek]

lol you must be a Perot supporter. I'll tell you what, if Perot was in either party he would've gotten my vote.

[Derek]

No i wanted clinton in 1992 i just wasnt old enough to vote, why does it matter if perot was in a party or independent?

I want my vote to go to the candidate who I feel has the best chance of winning that I would like. Meaning I liked Bush and Perot but Bush was the only one who had a serious chance to win out of the 2. That doesn't mean I won't vote for the loser in a landslide unless I happen to like the winner too. Another thing which is unfortunate but a cold hard fact is that if the GOP wins the White House or if it's the Dems, every judicial appointment, secretary, panel, they are all going to come from that party's ideology. Even though McCain was too moderate for right wingers, it was still very important to vote for him because of all of those things.

[Derek]

Yea you never want your government to have the power to decide which companies succeed and fail based on bail outs.

[Derek]

I knew when I first watched him at the 2004 DNC he was a snake oil salesman.

Of course, he's a politician.

Who?

[Derek]

I knew when I first watched him at the 2004 DNC he was a snake oil salesman.

Of course, he's a politician.

Who?

Well yea.

[Derek]

Nah, hes deeper than that. This guy truly scares me. His refusal to wear a flag pin. Him reading the book call The Post American World about Jihad defeating us. Him not going to Arlington to lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown. I really fear him.

If I could ask him one question it would be "what is so bad about our flag that you won't wear it?"

[Derek]

Someone said that reagan's poll numbers had dropped a lot by the time he left office, but reagan had a 65% approval when he left office.

I think that bush would have beaten dukakis or other candidates n 1992.

Well obviously he'd beat other candidates. I don't think Michael Dukakis could campaign his way out of a paper bag. I believe Bush left office with a 56% approval rating.

[Derek]

Someone said that reagan's poll numbers had dropped a lot by the time he left office, but reagan had a 65% approval when he left office.

I think that bush would have beaten dukakis or other candidates n 1992.

Well obviously he'd beat other candidates. I don't think Michael Dukakis could campaign his way out of a paper bag. I believe Bush left office with a 56% approval rating.

His approvals were much lower than that on Election Day, though. I think Dukakis could have beaten Bush Sr. in 1992 if he ran a good campaign and focused a lot on the poor economy.

You're right. His approval rating was 37 and he got 38%. I'm still not underestimating Dukakis' ability to mess up.

[Derek]

"His refusal to wear a flag pin."

It's more disturbing that politicians do wear them.  It's cheap symbolic patriotism.  Politicians in the past didn't wear them, because they showed their patriotism through their actions, not an accesory.  Dwight Eisenhower didn't wear them.  Neither did Bill Clinton, etc.  It doesn't mean anything, other than a willingness to bow to political pressure from the likes of Sean Hannity.  I don't get how we got to a point where politicians have to be so un-subtle to show their patriotism.

I didn't realize the American flag was a bow to political pressure. I wear it with pride.