the '92 democratic primary

[Reignman]

How did Tsongas, Clinton, and Brown differ?

[Dr. Cynic]

I remember Tsongas as more conservative than Clinton, but I don't remember Brown at all. I was four.

[King]

Tsongas was an early front runner but if it wasn't for that heart problem (probably what doomed McCain 2000 as well) he could have been the Nominee...and lost because Perot wouldn't have been running (Tsongas was a deficit man) so the Right would have been united...

[Dr. Cynic]

Even if Tsongas had won, he wouldn't have lived out his full term. He died in 1995, or 1996.

[King]

Even if Tsongas had won, he wouldn't have lived out his full term. He died in 1995, or 1996.

He died in 1997, so he would have finished his first term, but would have died in the beginning of the second...

[Reaganfan]

How did he die? HEART?

[PBrunsel]

Tsongas would have died a few days before his second inaugural had he been reelected. That would be a first in American politics.

[Dr. Cynic]

He had a massive heart attack.

[YRABNNRM]

Tsongas would have died a few days before his second inaugural had he been reelected. That would be a first in American politics.

Would his VP still take control?

[Dr. Cynic]

He would have too, by order of sucession.

[lidaker]

He had a massive heart attack.

No, he died from pneumonia and liver failure as a result of his cancer treatment.



PAUL TSONGAS
1941-1997

Paul Tsongas shaped and raised the level of the debate of the 1992 primaries, forcing other candidates to embrace economic policies such as the need to balance the budget. Part of his attraction lay in his willingness never to lie nor use something he didn't actually embrace for sheer political gain. He won the NH primaries but was ultimately defeated by Clinton, who ran to the left of him.

About his political philosophy:

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Useful links:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/remember/1997/tsong_1-20.html
http://www.troublesells.com/archives/000041.php
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000393

[PBrunsel]

Tsongas would have died a few days before his second inaugural had he been reelected. That would be a first in American politics.

Would his VP still take control?

Yes, and inauguration day 1997 would have been canceled.

[minionofmidas]

Even if Tsongas won, I can't see him running again with his health problems. Polk and Arthur didn't, either.
If he had, he would have been defeated at the polls, thus no need to cancel inauguration day, 1997.

[PBrunsel]

Even if Tsongas won, I can't see him running again with his health problems. Polk and Arthur didn't, either.
If he had, he would have been defeated at the polls, thus no need to cancel inauguration day, 1997.

Polk chose not to run because he promised he wouldn't. You are right about Arthur, he had Bright's Disease.

[minionofmidas]

Even if Tsongas won, I can't see him running again with his health problems. Polk and Arthur didn't, either.
If he had, he would have been defeated at the polls, thus no need to cancel inauguration day, 1997.

Polk chose not to run because he promised he wouldn't. You are right about Arthur, he had Bright's Disease.

He might have reneged on that promise if he hadn't been ill, though. The nomination would have been his for the taking, I'd figure.

[PBrunsel]

Even if Tsongas won, I can't see him running again with his health problems. Polk and Arthur didn't, either.
If he had, he would have been defeated at the polls, thus no need to cancel inauguration day, 1997.

Polk chose not to run because he promised he wouldn't. You are right about Arthur, he had Bright's Disease.

He might have reneged on that promise if he hadn't been ill, though. The nomination would have been his for the taking, I'd figure.

He could have won reelection, but he was tired of the job. He would work from 5 O'clock in the moringing to 1 o'clock in the morning sometimes. Polk's wife Sarah called him, "The hardest working man in the country."

[Reignman]

lidaker--thanks.

[qwerty]

The President undergoes health checkups on a constant checkup. Had Tsognas been President in 1997, the warning signs for his heart attack would likely have been noticed in time.

Look at Reagan, he was sickly numerous times in his Presidency, as was Eisenhower, and both lived to serve out their terms.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Tsongas was the first political candidate I ever really supported (when I was 12 years old).   He was refresgingly honest and sincere without needing a "cult of personality" to drive his popularity.  But Clinton just out-spun him in the end.

I think he would have won had he been the nominee, but perhaps not by as much as Clinton (he would have lost most of the South).
I don't know if Tsongas would have survived his first term...it's hard to know how his health and treatments would have differed were he president, but I don't think he could have run again in 1996.

[Akno21]

Tsongas from Massachusetts, correct?

[Giant Saguaro]

Went back into the nostalgia folder for this one...

Tsongas was from MA; he argued for "tough choices," a hike in the gas tax, and a cut in overall spending. He had a thing, "No more Santa Claus." Kinda like "We can't have everything," which Clark or Kerry or somebody argued in this primary. Tsongas was the first to enter the race, that I remember. Spring or early summer 1991.

Brown was the former gov of Cali and was kind of an anti-establishment guy and was for a "flat tax." I think he wanted it to replace the income tax.

Clinton ran on the "new Democrat" idea; he was neither conservative nor liberal, but both and neither. Generalizations. Smooth talk, he said stuff that sounded good. I think he went after some of them for being "old liberals" or something like that. He was for the death penalty, and I remember him signing the death warrant of someone that either had mental problems or had some issues, obviously to prove he supported it. He spent a lot of time even in the primaries addressing problems and issues like his extra marital affairs, corruption, and of course, the draft. The don't question my patriotism became a rally theme for him here too. But his big thing was his personality and youthfulness that coincided with the onset of "the '90s." He offered up a definition of the party that had not yet been put forth and did a lot to put forth the idea that if you're having problems, it's someone else's fault. This won him over to people, IMO.

By the time Super Tuesday rolled around, Clinton had won one state, if memory serves. He was always up there, though, and whether Tsongas, Harkin, or whoever was winning early states, Clinton was always there. A distant second, close third, and then he came out big on Super Tuesday, which had a lot of states in the south up. Clinton won most all of them and Tsongas won a handful, maybe two.

There were others in the race - L. Douglas Wilder of VA and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, but they were never formidable. Harkin was for just a brief moment, winning Iowa right off the bat, but after that it was a Clinton/Tsongas show.

[lidaker]

Tsongas was from MA; he argued for "tough choices," a hike in the gas tax, and a cut in overall spending. He had a thing, "No more Santa Claus." Kinda like "We can't have everything," which Clark or Kerry or somebody argued in this primary.

It was Dean. Nice account of the campaign.

[Dr. Cynic]

I remember bits and pieces from 92. But the First Candidate I ever supported was Clinton in 96 (When I was Eight).

[Niles Caulder]

'92 was quite the year.  Tsongas was a lighthouse of fiscal integrity in the race...(without the dramatic flare--and dramatic liabilities--of Ross Perot).  I agree with King that his largest campaign liability was his health.

But more than that, Clinton was simply charmed--he hit a chord with the American electorate--an ability to spellbind that never broke even when America was nausiated with him personally 6 years down the road.  Even still, years later, listening to the man B.S. is a guilty pleasure for most of us.

Tsongas' legacy is one that's still with us, too...what limited credibility the Democratic Party has in flailing the Republicans for the Defecit, they can thank Tsongas for.  Together with Warren Rudman he was co-founder of the Concord Coalition.  The more time that goes by, the more we'll be hearing from the ghost of Paul Tsongas....