Elections with Incumbents: The Election of 1996
Bill Clinton's campaign team had engineered an amazing victory over a once-popular incumbent in 1992, labeling the controversial former Arkansas Governor "the Comeback Kid". For the second election in a row it would be a contest between a Democrat, a Republican and a third party candidate in the form of Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot, although this time Perot was excluded from the presidential debates and his ability to act as spoiler would not be as powerful.
The Republican Party had made significant gains made in the 1994 mid-term elections, in which they captured the majority of seats in the House for the first time in forty years and the majority of seats in the Senate for the first time in eight years. Republican Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House, while Republican Bob Dole from Kansas served as Senate Majority leader. The Republicans of the 104th Congress pursued an ambitious agenda, highlighted by their Contract with America. A budget impasse between Congress and the Clinton Administration resulted in the Federal government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996. Clinton, meanwhile, was praised for signing the GOP's welfare reform and other notable bills, but was forced to abandon his own health care plan.
At the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton and incumbent Vice President Al Gore were renominated with virtually no opposition. A diverse field of Republican candidates debated issues such as a flat tax and other tax cut proposals, and a return to supply-side economic policies popularized by Ronald Reagan. Former U.S. Army General Colin Powell was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee, but on November 8, 1995, Powell announced that he would not seek the nomination. Former Secretary of Defense and future Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney was also considered by many as a possible candidate, but he also declared his intentions not to run in early 1995. Texas Governor George W. Bush was also urged by some party leaders to seek the Republican Party nomination, but he also opted not to do so.
Senate majority leader and former vice-presidential nominee Bob Dole of Kansas was seen as the front runner in the contest for the GOP nomination. Also seeking the nomination were conservative Senator Phil Gramm of Texas and centrist Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. The field of candidates also included journalist and former Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan (who had run for President in 1992) and magazine publisher Steve Forbes.
On January 29, Buchanan won a non-binding straw poll in Alaska. This was viewed as insignificant, but on February 6, Buchanan won the Louisiana caucus, a state that Gramm was expected to win. Dole won the Iowa Caucus with 26% of the vote, a considerably smaller margin of victory than was expected. Gramm's poor showing in Louisiana and his 5th place finish in Iowa's caucuses resulted in his withdrawal from the contest on the Sunday before the New Hampshire primary. In the New Hampshire Primary, Buchanan recorded a surprising victory over Dole, who finished in second place. Forbes won primaries in Delaware and Arizona. Buchanan's New Hampshire win alarmed the Republican "establishment" causing support to coalesce around Dole, who proceeded to win a string of primaries. Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11 and the Republican National Convention formally nominated him on August 15, 1996 as the GOP's nominee for President. Former Congressman and Housing Secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation as Dole's running mate.
Without meaningful primary opposition, Clinton was able to focus on the general election early. His campaign ran an early TV blitz of swing states promoting Clinton's agenda and record. Through the summer, the ad campaign shifted to one that sought to portray Dole as an aged conservative out of touch with mainstream America. Dole didn't help matters when he suffered an embarrassing fall off of a stage during a campaign event. A further Dole gaffe took place when, on September 18, he made a reference to a no-hitter thrown the day before by Hideo Nomo of the “Brooklyn Dodgers”. A few days later Dole would make a joke about the remark saying "And I'd like to congratulate the St. Louis Cardinals on winning the N.L. Central. Notice I said the St. Louis Cardinals not the St. Louis Browns."
Dole promised a 15% across-the-board reduction in income tax rates. Clinton painted Dole as a clone of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, warning America that Bob Dole would work in concert with the Republican Congress to slash popular social programs, like Medicare and Social Security. Clinton referred to his opponent as "Dole-Gingrich". He said that Dole's tax-cut plan would "blow a hole in the deficit" which had been cut nearly in half during his opponent's term.
The televised debates featured only Dole and Clinton, locking out Perot and the other minor candidates from the discussion. Throughout this campaign, Clinton was always leading in the polls, generally by large margins.
Questions arose during the campaign about the Democratic National Committee's fund-raising practices. In February the Washington Post published a story stating that a U.S. Department of Justice investigation had discovered evidence that agents of China sought to direct contributions from foreign sources to the DNC before the 1996 presidential campaign. The paper wrote that intelligence information had showed the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. was used for coordinating contributions to the DNC in violation of U.S. law forbidding non-American citizens from giving monetary donations to U.S. politicians and political parties. Seventeen people were eventually convicted for fraud or for funneling Asian funds into the U.S. elections. One of the more notable events involved Vice President Al Gore and a fund-raising event held at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California. The Temple event was organized by DNC fund-raisers John Huang and Maria Hsia. Under U.S. campaign finance laws, religious organizations were not permitted to donate money to politicians or political groups due to their tax-exempt status. The U.S. Justice Department alleged Hsia facilitated $100,000 in illegal contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign through her efforts at the Temple. Hsia was eventually convicted by a jury in March 2000. The DNC eventually returned the money donated by the Temple's monks and nuns.
On election day, Clinton won a decisive victory over Dole, becoming the first Democrat to win presidential reelection since Franklin Roosevelt. In the popular vote, he outpolled Dole by over 8.2 million votes. The Electoral College map did not change much from the previous election, with the Democrats winning 379 votes to the Republicans' 159. This time Reform Party nominee Ross Perot won only approximately 8% of the popular vote. His vote total was less than half of his performance in 1992. The 1996 national exit poll showed that just as in 1992, Perot's support came from both major parties equally. This was the last election in which a third-party candidate carried over 3% of the national popular vote. Since 1984, no winning Presidential candidate has surpassed Bill Clinton's 8.5 percentage popular vote margin. This was the third time in U.S. history that a candidate was elected President twice without receiving an absolute majority of the popular vote in either election (Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson are the others).
The Republican Party had made significant gains made in the 1994 mid-term elections, in which they captured the majority of seats in the House for the first time in forty years and the majority of seats in the Senate for the first time in eight years. Republican Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House, while Republican Bob Dole from Kansas served as Senate Majority leader. The Republicans of the 104th Congress pursued an ambitious agenda, highlighted by their Contract with America. A budget impasse between Congress and the Clinton Administration resulted in the Federal government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996. Clinton, meanwhile, was praised for signing the GOP's welfare reform and other notable bills, but was forced to abandon his own health care plan.
At the 1996 Democratic National Convention, Clinton and incumbent Vice President Al Gore were renominated with virtually no opposition. A diverse field of Republican candidates debated issues such as a flat tax and other tax cut proposals, and a return to supply-side economic policies popularized by Ronald Reagan. Former U.S. Army General Colin Powell was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee, but on November 8, 1995, Powell announced that he would not seek the nomination. Former Secretary of Defense and future Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney was also considered by many as a possible candidate, but he also declared his intentions not to run in early 1995. Texas Governor George W. Bush was also urged by some party leaders to seek the Republican Party nomination, but he also opted not to do so.
Senate majority leader and former vice-presidential nominee Bob Dole of Kansas was seen as the front runner in the contest for the GOP nomination. Also seeking the nomination were conservative Senator Phil Gramm of Texas and centrist Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. The field of candidates also included journalist and former Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan (who had run for President in 1992) and magazine publisher Steve Forbes.
On January 29, Buchanan won a non-binding straw poll in Alaska. This was viewed as insignificant, but on February 6, Buchanan won the Louisiana caucus, a state that Gramm was expected to win. Dole won the Iowa Caucus with 26% of the vote, a considerably smaller margin of victory than was expected. Gramm's poor showing in Louisiana and his 5th place finish in Iowa's caucuses resulted in his withdrawal from the contest on the Sunday before the New Hampshire primary. In the New Hampshire Primary, Buchanan recorded a surprising victory over Dole, who finished in second place. Forbes won primaries in Delaware and Arizona. Buchanan's New Hampshire win alarmed the Republican "establishment" causing support to coalesce around Dole, who proceeded to win a string of primaries. Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11 and the Republican National Convention formally nominated him on August 15, 1996 as the GOP's nominee for President. Former Congressman and Housing Secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation as Dole's running mate.
Without meaningful primary opposition, Clinton was able to focus on the general election early. His campaign ran an early TV blitz of swing states promoting Clinton's agenda and record. Through the summer, the ad campaign shifted to one that sought to portray Dole as an aged conservative out of touch with mainstream America. Dole didn't help matters when he suffered an embarrassing fall off of a stage during a campaign event. A further Dole gaffe took place when, on September 18, he made a reference to a no-hitter thrown the day before by Hideo Nomo of the “Brooklyn Dodgers”. A few days later Dole would make a joke about the remark saying "And I'd like to congratulate the St. Louis Cardinals on winning the N.L. Central. Notice I said the St. Louis Cardinals not the St. Louis Browns."
Dole promised a 15% across-the-board reduction in income tax rates. Clinton painted Dole as a clone of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, warning America that Bob Dole would work in concert with the Republican Congress to slash popular social programs, like Medicare and Social Security. Clinton referred to his opponent as "Dole-Gingrich". He said that Dole's tax-cut plan would "blow a hole in the deficit" which had been cut nearly in half during his opponent's term.
The televised debates featured only Dole and Clinton, locking out Perot and the other minor candidates from the discussion. Throughout this campaign, Clinton was always leading in the polls, generally by large margins.
Questions arose during the campaign about the Democratic National Committee's fund-raising practices. In February the Washington Post published a story stating that a U.S. Department of Justice investigation had discovered evidence that agents of China sought to direct contributions from foreign sources to the DNC before the 1996 presidential campaign. The paper wrote that intelligence information had showed the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. was used for coordinating contributions to the DNC in violation of U.S. law forbidding non-American citizens from giving monetary donations to U.S. politicians and political parties. Seventeen people were eventually convicted for fraud or for funneling Asian funds into the U.S. elections. One of the more notable events involved Vice President Al Gore and a fund-raising event held at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California. The Temple event was organized by DNC fund-raisers John Huang and Maria Hsia. Under U.S. campaign finance laws, religious organizations were not permitted to donate money to politicians or political groups due to their tax-exempt status. The U.S. Justice Department alleged Hsia facilitated $100,000 in illegal contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign through her efforts at the Temple. Hsia was eventually convicted by a jury in March 2000. The DNC eventually returned the money donated by the Temple's monks and nuns.
On election day, Clinton won a decisive victory over Dole, becoming the first Democrat to win presidential reelection since Franklin Roosevelt. In the popular vote, he outpolled Dole by over 8.2 million votes. The Electoral College map did not change much from the previous election, with the Democrats winning 379 votes to the Republicans' 159. This time Reform Party nominee Ross Perot won only approximately 8% of the popular vote. His vote total was less than half of his performance in 1992. The 1996 national exit poll showed that just as in 1992, Perot's support came from both major parties equally. This was the last election in which a third-party candidate carried over 3% of the national popular vote. Since 1984, no winning Presidential candidate has surpassed Bill Clinton's 8.5 percentage popular vote margin. This was the third time in U.S. history that a candidate was elected President twice without receiving an absolute majority of the popular vote in either election (Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson are the others).