United States presidential election, 1996

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Presidential electoral votes.
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Presidential electoral votes.

The U.S. presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee versus the Republican national ticket of Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas for President and former Congressman and ex-Cabinet Secretary Jack F. Kemp of Buffalo, New York for Vice President. Clinton benefited from a relatively strong economy and a lack of credible foreign threats, and although he once again failed to receive a majority of the popular vote because of heavy campaigning by Reform Party nominee H. Ross Perot of Texas, he won the election over Dole, who was thought by some to have run a lackluster campaign.

Contents

[edit] Background

This election took place on November 5, 1996.

In 1995, the United States Republican Party was riding high on the gains made in the 1994 congressional elections. In those elections, the Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, captured the majority of seats in both the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for the first time in forty years.

[edit] Nominations

[edit] Republican Party nomination

A number of Republican candidates entered the field to challenge the Democratic President, Bill Clinton. The list included:

The fragmented field of 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. More attention was drawn to the race by the budget stalemate in 1995 between the Congress and the President, which caused temporary shutdowns and slowdowns in many areas of federal government service.

Former U.S. Army Gen. Colin L. Powell was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee. However, 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 touted by many as a possible candidate for the presidency, but he declared his intentions not to run in early 1995. Former and future Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld formed a Presidential Campaign Exploratory Committee, but declined to formally enter the race. Then-Texas Governor George W. Bush was also urged by some party leaders to seek the Republican Party (GOP) nomination, but opted against doing so.

Going into the 1996 primary contest, Senate majority leader and former vice-presidential nominee Bob Dole was seen as the most likely winner. However, in the primaries and caucuses, social conservative Pat Buchanan received early victories in Alaska, Louisiana and New Hampshire, and Steve Forbes in Delaware and Arizona which put Dole's leadership in doubt. However, Dole won every primary starting with North and South Dakota, which gave him a lock on the party nomination. Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11. The Republican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996 as the GOP candidate for the fall election.

The tally:

Former Congressman and Cabinet secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation as Dole's running mate the following day.

[edit] Democratic Party nomination

The United States Democratic Party nomination process was very uneventful. Incumbents president Bill Clinton and vice president Al Gore were nominated with only the opposition of fringe candidate Lyndon LaRouche, whose 35 Arkansas delegates were barred from the convention despite their being legally elected.

[edit] Other nominations

The United States Green Party nominated political legend Ralph Nader of Connecticut as its presidential candidate. Mr. Nader accepted the nomination, but vowed to spend only $5,000 in his election campaign.

The United States Reform Party nominated party founder Ross Perot of Texas in its first election as an official political party. Although Perot easily won the nomination, his victory at the party's national convention led to a schism, as supporters of his opponent, former Governor Richard Lamm of Colorado, accused him of rigging the vote to prevent them from casting their ballots. This faction walked out of the national convention and eventually formed their own group, the American Reform Party. Economist Pat Choate was nominated for Vice President.

The Socialist Party USA nominated Mary Cal Hollis of Colorado and Eric Chester of Massachusetts.

The Libertarian Party nominated free-market writer and investment analyst, Dr. Harry Browne of Tennessee, and selected Jo Jorgensen of Texas as his running-mate.

The U.S. Taxpayers Party, better known as the Constitution Party, nominated former aide to President Ronald Reagan and Chairman of the American Conservative Union Howard Phillips for President.

[edit] General election

[edit] Campaign

Without meaningful primary opposition, Clinton was able to focus on the general election early, while Dole was forced to move to the right and spend his campaign reserves fighting off challengers. Political adviser Dick Morris urged Clinton to raise huge sums of campaign funds via soft money for an unprececented early TV blitz of swing states promoting Clinton's agenda and record. As a result, Clinton could run a campaign through the summer defining his opponent as an aged conservative far from the mainstream before Dole was in a position to respond. Compared to the 50-year old Clinton, Dole appeared especially old and frail, as illustrated by an embarrassing fall off a stage during a campaign event. Dole further enhanced this contrast on September 18 when he made a reference to a no-hitter thrown the day before by the “Brooklyn Dodgers”, a team that had left Brooklyn for Los Angeles four decades earlier.

Throughout the runup to the general election, Clinton maintained comfortable leads in the polls over Dole and Perot. The televised debates featured only Dole and Clinton, locking out Perot and the other minor candidates from the discussion. Perot, who had been allowed to participate in the 1992 debates, would eventually take his case to court, seeking damages from not being in the debate, as well as citing unfair coverage from the major media outlets.

[edit] Campaign donations controversy

Main article: 1996 United States campaign finance controversy

In late September 1996, questions arose regarding the Democratic National Committee's fund-raising practices. In February of the following year, the People's Republic of China's alleged role in the campaign finance controversy first gained public attention after 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[1] 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 learned involved Vice President Al Gore and a fund-raising event held at the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights, California. The Temple event was organized by DNC fund-raisers John Huang and Maria Hsia. It is illegal under U.S. law for religious organizations 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.[2] The DNC eventually returned the money donated by the Temple's monks and nuns. Twelve nuns and employees of the Temple refused to answer questions by pleading the Fifth Amendment when they were subpoenaed to testify before Congress in 1997. [3]

[edit] Results

In the end, Clinton won a decisive victory over Senator Dole. Ross Perot won less than half as many votes as he had in 1992. Clinton was the first two-term president since Woodrow Wilson to win both of his elections with under 50 percent of the national popular vote.

The Electoral College map didn't change much from the previous election, with the Democratic incumbent winning 379 votes to the Republican ticket's 159. In the West, Dole managed to win Colorado and Montana which had voted Democratic in 1992, while Clinton became the first Democrat to win the state of Arizona since Harry Truman in 1948. In the South, Clinton took Florida from the Republicans in exchange for the less electoral vote-rich Georgia.

Although he hailed from Arkansas, Clinton carried just four of the eleven states of the American South, tying his 1992 run for the worst performance by a winning Democratic presidential candidate in the region (in terms of states won). Clinton's performance seems to have been part of a broader decline in support for the Democratic Party in the South. In the 2000 and 2004 elections, the Democrats would fail to carry even one of the Southern states, leading to their defeat both times. This completed the Republican takeover of the American South, a region in which Democrats had held a near monopoly from 1880 to 1960.

Presidential Candidate Party Home State Popular Vote Electoral Vote Running Mate Running Mate's
Home State		 Running Mate's
Electoral Vote
Count Percentage
William Jefferson Clinton Democratic(a) Arkansas 47,400,125 49.2% 379 Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. Tennessee 379
Robert Joseph Dole Republican(b) Kansas 39,198,755 40.7% 159 Jack French Kemp New York 159
Henry Ross Perot Reform(c) Texas 8,085,402 8.4% 0 Patrick Jeffrey Choate(d) District of Columbia 0
Ralph Nader Green   685,297 0.7% 0 —(e)   0
Harry Browne Libertarian   485,798 0.5% 0 Jo Jorgensen South Carolina 0
Howard Phillips Taxpayers   184,820 0.2% 0 Herbert Titus Oregon 0
John Hagelin Natural Law   113,670 0.1% 0 Michael Tompkins   0
Other(f) 121,534 0.1% 0 Other(f) 0
Total 96,275,401 100.0% 538 Total 538
Needed to win 270 Needed to win 270

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. 1996 Presidential Election Results. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (August 7, 2005).

Source (electoral vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (August 7, 2005).

Voting age population: 196,498,000

Percent of voting age population casting a vote for President: 49.00%

(a) In New York, the Clinton vote was a fusion of the Democratic and Liberal slates. There, Clinton obtained 3,649,630 votes on the Democratic ticket and 106,547 votes on the Liberal ticket. [4]
(b) In New York, the Dole vote was a fusion of the Republican, Conservative, and Freedom slates. There, Dole obtained 1,738,707 votes on the Republican ticket, 183,392 votes on the Conservative ticket, and 11,393 votes on the Freedom ticket.[4]
(c) In South Carolina, the Perot vote was a fusion of the Reform and Patriot slates. There, Perot obtained 27,464 votes on the Reform ticket and 36,913 votes on the Patriot ticket.[4]
(d) On the California, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas election ballots, James Campbell of California, Perot's former boss at IBM, was listed as a stand-in Vice-Presidential candidate until Perot decided on Pat Choate as his choice for Vice President.
(e) The Green Party vice presidential candidate varied from state to state, giving Nader a total of four running mates.[5] Winona LaDuke seems to have been the vice presidential candidate in many states. Anne Goeke was Nader's running mate in Iowa[6] and Pennsylvania. Madelyn Hoffman was Nader's running mate in New Jersey.[7] And Muriel Tillinghast was the running mate in New York.[8]
(f) Candidates receiving less than 1/2000 of the total popular vote.

[edit] Close states

(States shown in red were won by the Republican Party, those in blue by the Democratic Party.)

  1. Kentucky, 0.96%
  2. Nevada, 1.02%
  3. Georgia, 1.17%
  4. Colorado, 1.37%
  5. Virginia, 1.96%
  6. Arizona, 2.22%
  7. Tennessee, 2.41%
  8. Montana, 2.88%
  9. South Dakota, 3.46%
  10. North Carolina, 4.69%
  11. Texas, 4.93%

[edit] Voter demographics

The Presidential Vote in Social Groups (percentages)
% of
1996
total
vote		 3-party vote
1992 1996
Social group Clinton Bush Perot Clinton Dole Perot
Total vote 43 38 19 49 41 8
'''Party and ideology'''
2 Liberal Republicans 17 54 30 44 48 9
13 Moderate Republicans 15 63 21 20 72 7
21 Conservative Republicans 5 82 13 6 88 5
4 Liberal Independents 54 17 30 58 15 18
15 Moderate Independents 43 28 30 50 30 17
7 Conservative Independents 17 53 30 19 60 19
13 Liberal Democrats 85 5 11 89 5 4
20 Moderate Democrats 76 9 15 84 10 5
6 Conservative Democrats 61 23 16 69 23 7
Gender and marital status
33 Married men 38 42 21 40 48 10
33 Married women 41 40 19 48 43 7
15 Unmarried men 48 29 22 49 35 12
20 Unmarried women 53 31 15 62 28 7
Race
83 White 39 40 20 43 46 9
10 Black 83 10 7 84 12 4
5 Hispanic 61 25 14 72 21 6
1 Asian 31 55 15 43 48 8
Religion
46 White Protestant 33 47 21 36 53 10
29 Catholic 44 35 20 53 37 9
3 Jewish 80 11 9 78 16 3
17 Born Again, religious right 23 61 15 26 65 8
Age
17 18–29 years old 43 34 22 53 34 10
33 30–44 years old 41 38 21 48 41 9
26 45–59 years old 41 40 19 48 41 9
24 60 and older 50 38 12 48 44 7
Education
6 Not a high school graduate 54 28 18 59 28 11
24 High school graduate 43 36 21 51 35 13
27 Some college education 41 37 21 48 40 10
26 College graduate 39 41 20 44 46 8
17 Post graduate education 50 36 14 52 40 5
Family income
11 Under $15,000 58 23 19 59 28 11
23 $15,000–$29,999 45 35 20 53 36 9
27 $30,000–$49,999 41 38 21 48 40 10
39 Over $50,000 39 44 17 44 48 7
18 Over $75,000 36 48 16 41 51 7
9 Over $100,000 — — — 38 54 6
Region
23 East 47 35 18 55 34 9
26 Midwest 42 37 21 48 41 10
30 South 41 43 16 46 46 7
20 West 43 34 23 48 40 8
Community size
10 Population over 500,000 58 28 13 68 25 6
21 Population 50,000 to 500,000 50 33 16 50 39 8
39 Suburbs 41 39 21 47 42 8
30 Rural areas, towns 39 40 20 45 44 10

Source: Voter News Service exit poll, reported in The New York Times, November 10, 1996, 28.

[edit] Trivia

  • 1996 was the first occasion of a third party (the Libertarian Party) earning ballot status in all 50 states in consecutive presidential elections.
  • The 1996 election was the first since the 1936 election that a Democratic incumbent was elected to a second consecutive term after serving one full term.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Books

  • (1997) Laurence W. Moreland and Robert P. Steed, eds.: The 1996 Presidential Election in the South: Southern Party Systems in the 1990s.
  • Ceaser, James W., Andrew E. Busch (1997). Losing to Win: The 1996 Elections and American Politics.
  • Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.
  • Green, John C. (1999). Financing the 1996 Election.
  • Pomper, Gerald M., et al (1997). The Election of 1996: Reports and Interpretations.

[edit] Journals

  • Jelen, Ted G., Marthe Chandler (2000). "Culture Wars in the Trenches: Social Issues as Short-Term Forces in Presidential Elections, 1968–1996". The American Review of Politics 21: 69–87.

[edit] Web references

  1. ^ Woodward, Bob and Duffy, Brian, "Chinese Embassy Role In Contributions Probed", Washington Post, Feb. 13, 1997
  2. ^ Eskenazi, Michael, "For both Gore and GOP, a guilty verdict to watch", CNN.com, March 3, 2000
  3. ^ Abse, Nathan, "A Look at the 94 Who Aren't Talking", Washington Post, June 9, 1998
  4. ^ a b c '96 Presidential and Congressional Election Statistics. Official website of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved on February 17, 2006.
  5. ^ Pollitt, Katha, readers of The Nation (April 10, 2000). "Saint Ralph and the Dragon". The Nation.
  6. ^ November 12, 1996 (PDF). Minutes of the Meetings of the Board of Supervisors. Cerro Gordo County (1996). Retrieved on March 30, 2006.
  7. ^ Fernandez, Sonia. "Nader '55 to run for president", The Daily Princetonian, Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc, 2000-02-22. Retrieved on 2006-03-30.
  8. ^ Electors of President and Vice President. Cattaraugus County: Board of Elections: 1996 Election Results. Cattaraugus County, New York State. Retrieved on March 30, 2006.

[edit] External links

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