It's the economy, stupid

"It's the economy, stupid" was a phrase in American politics widely used during Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign against George 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, a slight variation on a phrase created by Bill Clinton's 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.

Clinton's campaign used the recession to successfully unseat George Bush. In March 1991, days after the ground invasion of Iraq, 90% of polled Americans approved of President Bush's job performance. Later the next year, Americans' opinions had turned sharply; 64% of polled Americans disapproved of Bush's job performance in August 1992.

History

In order to keep the campaign on message, Carville hung a sign in Bill Clinton's Little Rock campaign headquarters that read:

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 a de facto slogan for the Clinton election campaign.

Legacy

The phrase has become a snowclone repeated often in American political culture, usually starting with the word "it's" and with commentators sometimes using a different word in place of "economy." Examples include "It's the deficit, stupid!" "It's the corporation, stupid!" "It's the math, stupid!" and "It's the voters, stupid!". In British political satire The Thick of It, It's the Everything, Stupid was the name of a book written by one of the characters. In an episode of the TV series The West Wing, "the economy stupid" can be seen written on a whiteboard in Bartlet's campaign headquarters.

See also

• List of political catch phrases
• The War Room