It's the economy, stupid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The economy, stupid," was a phrase in American politics widely used during Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush. It was coined by Democratic Party strategist James Carville.

The phrase takes the form of the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid. In order to keep the campaign on message, Carville hung a sign in Bill Clinton's Little Rock campaign headquarters with the following three points, roughly in haiku form:

1. Change vs. more of the same
2. The economy, stupid
3. Don't forget health care.

Although the sign was intended for an internal audience of campaign workers, the phrase became something of a slogan for the Clinton election campaign. Clinton's campaign used the recession to successfully unseat George H.W. Bush, whose approval ratings had been in the 80% range one year prior.

The phrase is repeated often in American political culture, usually preceded by the word "it's", and with commentators sometimes substituting a different word in place of "economy". e.g., "It's the deficit, stupid!"[1], "It's the corporation, stupid!"[2], "It's the math, stupid!"[3]

[edit] See also

• List of political catch phrases
• The War Room