[Cross Posted Earlier, At MyDD]
The Clinton campaign’s recent release of a detailed energy policy document, and the continuing (multi-layered) fallout from the 2007 Philadelphia debate, brought to my mind something that occurred in the 1992 race for the democratic nomination. This recollection, in turn, reminded me of something that, strangely, seems to have been forgotten by today's mainstream media, namely: how Bill Clinton attacked the democratic front-runner in 1992. Some history...
You might recall that in 1992, Paul Tsongas, Bill Clinton, Tom Harkin, Jerry Brown and Bob Kerry were competing for the democratic nomination. Following his victory in New Hampshire in February of 1992, Paul Tsongas became the front-runner. As a result, every single one of his democratic rivals began to attack Tsongas. They pounced on all fronts.
The issue that they attacked the democratic front-runner Tsongas on, with particular ferocity, was nuclear power. In contrast to all the other democratic candidates, Tsongas was in favor of allowing additional nuclear power plants to be built. (See generally, this article.) Today, it is perhaps hard for us to imagine just how important this issue was to Democrats in 1992, but suffice to say, Tsongas was definitely on the wrong side of this issue. He was vulnerable to attack.
The attacks against the democratic front-runner Tsongas over nuclear power reached their high water mark in a televised debate in Denver, on February 29, 1992. And the leader of those attacks against the front-runner was none other than Bill Clinton.
In particular, Bill Clinton had this to say about the reason why the front-runner was ahead of everyone else:
One of the reasons he's ahead in the polls is that people do not know what he stands for.
Ouch. Sound familiar?
Bill Clinton combined this frontal, comprehensive attack, with an unusually wicked attack on the democratic front-runner’s nuclear power policy:
We do not need to do what Senator Tsongas needs to do, and build hundreds of more nuclear plants
Tsongas was shocked by Bill Clinton’s hyperbolic attack. Hundreds more nuclear power plants? Tsongas was in favor of building hundreds more? Huh? What?!
An infuriated Tsongas responded:
That is a lie. That is a lie. That is a lie.
This Bill Clinton attack on the democratic front-runner would go down in history as one of the most memorable moments of the 1992 race for the nomination. The exchange ended with an unusually derisive attack from Bill Clinton against the democratic front-runner:
No one can argue with you, Paul, you're always perfect.
Ouch!
One might well wonder why Bill Clinton closed his attack on the democratic front-runner with such a strange and seemingly petty attack. Why did Bill Clinton say that?
It turns out that the democratic front-runner, Tsongas, was perceived by some as...how to put it charitably...less than likeable. In particular, some perceived Tsongas to be stiff, intellectual...and perhaps...even haughty. Bill Clinton recognized this personality defect in the democratic front-runner, and he, and his campaign, attacked it with gusto.
In particular, Bill Clinton underscored the perceived personality defect in the democratic front-runner by using mockery...like the line above...and also by frequently referring to statements and criticisms from Tsongas as "pious." If it came from Tsongas, it was "pious." Subtly, and not so subtly, Bill Clinton attacked the personality of the democratic front-runner.
It is interesting, of course, to reflect upon the fact that Bill Clinton’s attacks on the personality of the democratic front-runner in 1992 echoed traditional Republican lines of attack against democratic presidential candidates. In particular, as Bill Clinton did in 1992, Republicans have traditionally (and effectively) attacked democratic presidential candidates (insert Kerry, Gore, Dukakis) as stiff, intellectual, and pompous. In short, they are portrayed as joyless eggheads...and many voters are simply not looking for 4 years of this.
Bill Clinton’s attacks against the democratic front-runner in 1992 were well known, and well advertised, at the time. So, for example, in March of 1992, in aNew York Times article, James Carville described Bill Clinton’s plans to attack the democratic front-runner:
Mr. Clinton's top strategist, James Carville, gave a taste of the attacks to come when he told reporters today that Mr. Tsongas had received remarkably gentle treatment from the news media, and that this would quickly change. "So far, he's been a protected species," Mr. Carville said. "He's been sort of the snail darter of American politics."
Carville continued:
Referring to the woman who accused Mr. Clinton of having a 12-year affair with her, and to Mr. Tsongas's economic proposals, Mr. Carville added: "How many more people know about Gennifer Flowers than know that he wants to triple the Federal tax on gasoline?"
And so, true to Carville’s promise, in addition to attacking the democratic front-runner in 1992 frontally, on nuclear power policy, and on personality defects, Bill Clinton attacked the democratic front-runner as a tax raiser.
Yes, that’s right: again, Bill Clinton attacked the democratic front-runner using a traditional Republican attack. After Bill Clinton was done with the democratic front-runner, all the voters would consider the democratic-front runner a pompous tax-raiser. Hmmmm....
Of course, Bill Clinton took his "tax raiser" attack on the democratic front-runner to perhaps the highest level it has ever been taken. In particular, on the campaign trail, Bill Clinton asserted that the democratic front-runner's tax raising was going to inflict "pain and agony" on the middle class.
Pain and agony? Pain and agony? Now, THAT is a brutal attack on a democratic-front runner.