POL-344-001 CRITICAL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, FALL 2011

1996, PART TWO: CLINTON WINS

Questions for The Election of 1996 chapters 4 (Corrado), 5 (Pomper), Conclusion (McWilliams)

Wednesday, November 30

1. (Jake) In Chapter 4, Corrado discusses how the Federal Election Campaign Act adjusts election spending for inflation; however, it does not adjust donation amounts for inflation. Could accounting for, and adjusting, donation limits for inflation help solve some of the issues with campaign finance (e.g. seeking out loopholes in federal law for campaign finances)?

2. (Jake) Pomper cites, "[Clinton] became 'the most powerful representative of old fashioned liberal Republicanism in America'", and that "the liberal Republican tradition is so close to collapse in its party of origin." Has this ideology become a way of the past, as is suggested? Or, are there candidates/representatives of this way of thinking in today's political environment?

3. (Maryam) Gerald M. Pomper argues that party loyalty was one of the most important factors to that determined the outcome of the 1996 election. Do you agree/disagree with his assessment? Do you believe that party loyalty and identification are the deciding factors for the average American voter?

4. (Annie) Pomper implies that the 1996 campaign "lacked apparent significance."  He bases this argument off of the fact that pre-campaign poll numbers proved most accurate in predicting the actual outcome.  He would argue that it was the previous four years and the state of the economy leading up to the election that determined the winner.  To what degree do you believe this is true? Given this information, is there any chance that the massive spending of the major candidates did not have all that much significance in determining the outcome of the general election?

5. (Kyle) Comparing table 5.2 (179) with figure 5.2 (184) with particular attention paid to the voter breakdowns by gender, do you think that the author presents the information in a way that may overstate the gender divide to fit his assertions? Particular attention should be paid to unmarried men as well as the percentage of voters who voted for Dole.

6. (Alyssa) In the book, Pomper argues that 'the candidates failed to conduct a true political debate" by arguing that the candidates never directly confronted each other. (pg 193-94) Would Dole had stood a better chance if he had attacked Clinton in more areas than just the president's character (or had more strongly attacked the president's character)? Are presidential races/debates more effective at getting voters' attention the more the the candidates argue and attack each other?

7. (Jacob) Has the long term impact of the Hispanic vote switching to the Democrats mentioned by Pomper played out? Can the Republicans overcome the opposition of this key demographic?

8. (Jacob) Are the two parties becoming gendered? Or was it simply the political maneuvering of Clinton which made the difference pronounced?

9. (Nick) The end of the book seems to suggest that the "It's my turn" Bob Dole was an agreeable choice by everyone, but the lack of a dynamic or motivating character lost the election. Are there potential parallels between Bob Dole and Mitt Romney?

10. (Josh) Was the reelection of both the Democratic President and a Republican Congress a 'mandate to get along' for the two parties? Could the decision have been about anything other than the fact that most people were satisfied about the state of the country, and wanted the
economic conditions to continue?

11. (Chris) So, what is the meaning of the 1996 election?