It's the economy, stupid

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"It's the economy, stupid," was a phrase in American politics widely used during Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush. For a time, Bush was considered unbeatable because of foreign policy developments such as the end of the Cold War and the Persian Gulf War. The phrase, coined by Clinton campaign strategist James Carville, refers to the notion that Clinton was a better choice because Bush had not adequately addressed the economy, which had recently undergone a recession.

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^{[citation needed]}:

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

--^{[citation needed]}

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 90% range one year prior.^[1]

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!"^[2], "It's the corporation, stupid!"^[3], "It's the math, stupid!"^[4], "It's the voters, stupid!"^[5]