(8) 1992 presidential race

By Jay Kim

In 1992, Republicans cheered when Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton won the nomination to be the Democratic presidential candidate.

Many Republicans ridiculed the choice, feeling that the Democrats had to be desperate to nominate somebody as problematic as Clinton, both unknown by the public and known in Washington circles as a draft dodger and a playboy.

Other than his good looks and strong charisma, Clinton

did not have much to offer. Most political experts predicted a landslide re-election victory for incumbent President George H.W. Bush, a former CIA director and vice-president under Ronald Reagan, a man whose political career seemed to dwarf Clinton’s.

It was Bush’s reputation that caused many Democratic big shots to close their campaigns, allowing a dark horse like Clinton to win the nomination.

However, the unexpected began to happen. The Republicans took the campaign strategy of touting Bush’s brilliant achievements, while concentrating on assassinating Clinton’s character; this was thought to be an easily winning campaign strategy for Bush. However, this severely underestimated Clinton.

There are usually about three to four live nationwide TV debates between candidates in a U.S. presidential campaign; these play a great role in the race.

Clinton crushed President Bush in their first TV debate. Bush seemed content to rest on his laurels, without offering any clear-cut plan for the future. In contrast, Clinton concentrated on one famous message: “It’s the economy, stupid!”

Clinton told the nation with a smiling face, “If you think you are better than four years ago, vote for Bush. If not, let’s double up your wealth with me in the next four years.”

He also attacked Bush: “When the economy gets worse, only the rich become richer. Bush is a rich man who only helps the rich.”

Using the famous term “centrist,” he declared that he would revive the economy first before the redistribution of wealth, as a born-again Democrat. He aimed for conservative votes by presenting himself as a centrist, thinking that Democrats would support him anyway.

This strategy worked as planned. At first, people wondered about his message of the economy first, but his camp had famous, Nobel Prize-winning economists to help craft his message. Compared to Clinton’s sole emphasis on reviving economy, the past achievements of Bush began to shrink in stature. Furthermore, worsening economic figures made Bush’s camp panic. Just then, a former nightclub waitress revealed that she had been Clinton’s lover for a long time, creating a major scandal and giving the Bush camp hope.

Clinton, however, denied the allegation, saying that he absolutely did not have any sexual relationship with her even though there was a time he associated with her. His wife Hillary also defended him, saying that her husband was not that kind of man, and interest in the scandal soon waned.

Furthermore, Hillary came forward and said that she couldn’t be a powerless first lady who only bakes cookies at home, makes dinners for her husband and takes care of a child; rather, she would work actively as a feminist.

Hillary, a young lawyer with her own clear opinions, received enthusiastic cheers from the growing feminist organizations with her words “Electing my husband Clinton as the president is electing two, including me”.

The Clinton camp decided to have as his running mate Al Gore, senator from Tennessee, who was young and full of charisma. Perturbed by this selection, the Republican camp selected the unknown but young and handsome Dan Quayle as the running mate to counter Al Gore’s youth.

I had met Quayle two to three times, but I was not sure if he would win against Gore in a TV debate. Sure enough, he misspelled “potato” as “potatoe” during his speech in front of students; he was ridiculed as a vice-presidential candidate who did not know the spelling of “potato,” and became a burden to Bush instead.

Bush and Quayle were crushed in their respective TV debates by Clinton and Gore. In the end, Clinton prevailed in the election.

Also in Korea, President Lee Myung-bak won the election with putting up his career as a CEO, backed by the nation’s wish for economic recovery, and overcoming various suspicions of wrongdoings.

The economy is the reason why former President Park Chung-hee, who was an autocrat, is revered as the greatest president of Korean history, and why Reagan and Clinton could confound the re-election attempts of President Carter and President Bush.

Either in the U.S. or in Korea, it seems the eternal truth that the most important thing to people is making a living.

Jay Kim is a former U.S. Congressman. He serves as chairman of the Washington Korean-American Forum. For more information, visit Kim’s website (www.jayckim.com).