It's the Economy, Stupid

Unfortunately, the 1990’s going into the new millennium weren’t quite exciting in regards to campaign slogans. However, there are a couple memorable candidates as well as elections.

The first election of the 1990’s featured the first Clinton candidate, George H.W. Bush, and Ross Perot. As we all know, Bill Clinton won the election and became the last president of the 20^th century. Most of Clinton’s taglines were simplistic, for example “Putting People First” and “For People, for a Change.”

But there was one that really resonated with the crowd: “It’s the economy, stupid.” This line was created by campaign strategist James Carville as the second of three focuses for campaign workers. To focus the campaign staff, Carville posted a sign at campaign headquarters that read:

               “Change vs. more of the same.”

               “The economy, stupid.”

               “Don’t forget healthcare.”

These lines summarized the goals of the Clinton campaign, and clearly some of them were not meant to be used as slogans. “The economy, stupid” was the exception as it pointed out one of the biggest national issues of the time. Furthermore, it was blunt about it. The message is clear and you would have to be stupid to miss it.

Image from inequality.org

The slogan rests right between insulting the previous president and declaring the candidate’s plans. At the time, incumbent president George H. W. Bush was running for reelection after a term of economic difficulties. Clinton supporters used the line to dissuade others from voting for Bush because his actions in office proved inadequate to solve the economic problems of the time. They treated the economic situation as something that was simple to solve and they suggested that Clinton would be able to do just that.

The line itself was elegant in a way summarizing an entire campaign in 3~4 words depending on which source you look at (sometimes “It’s the economy stupid). During Clinton’s term, America saw a major period of economic growth earning Clinton an extremely high approval rating.  

The interesting part of the 1992 election was the third party. Under the slogan “Ross for Boss,” Ross Perot ran as an independent presidential candidate. In this era of economic struggle, a successful businessman such as Ross Perot was quite attractive to the public (some people hold similar opinions of Donald Trump).

“Ross for Boss” uses a simple rhyme to connect Perot to the presidency. By letting him be the “boss” of America, he can then lead the country to success. “Boss” also references Perot’s business background and by extensions his personality. Bosses like to be in charge, but usually when they are, things get done. Perot made many remarks about how he would fix the economy, but failed to provided details on other issues if he were to make office.

Ultimately, Perot’s campaign ended with 18.9% of popular vote but no Electoral College votes. Perhaps in the end it is best to leave the politics to the politicians.