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1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries

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The 1992 Democratic presidential primaries chose the Democratic nominee for the general election.

Candidates

History

The 1992 election was thought to be nearly unwinnable by many Democrats. President Bush was extremely popular after the Gulf War and the nation's poor economy did not seem to hurt his record popularity. Thus, many of the most noted Democrats, such as New York Governor Mario Cuomo and House Majority leader Dick Gephardt, stayed out of the election.

Tom Harkin had an early victory in his home state of Iowa, a contest that was largely uncontested by the other candidates, but fared poorly elsewhere. Tsongas emerged as the early front runner and won the New Hampshire Primary. During the summer of 1991, Clinton had been polling strongly, but a collection of sex scandals exploded and during the winter he plummeted to single digit support. After finishing a surprisingly strong second in New Hampshire he proclaimed himself to be the "comeback kid" and gained a great deal of momentum. Meanwhile, Tsongas, having started as a longshot candidate, won several primaries (Maryland, Arizona, Washington, and Utah), but found that there was insufficient time to accumulate funds after his surprise New Hampshire win (this was before Internet fundraising existed as a possibility), and withdrew before certain large-state primaries (most notably, New York and Illinois). Brown, who had done so poorly in the early primaries, was about to lose his matching funds until he unexpectedly emerged victorious in Colorado.

Clinton won a major victory in Illinois and began to sweep the rest of the country, when as part of a minor backlash Brown won in Connecticut. There was a show-down brewing in New York between the two rivals, when a group of people decided to force Tsongas, who was still on the ballot there, back in the race. This was surprisingly successful, and Tsongas came in a close second, effectively ending Brown's challenge. The rest of the primary campaign unfolded uneventfully.

Convention

Main article: 1992 Democratic National Convention

Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey was the most prominent pro-life Democrat and he demanded publicly to give a minority plank on abortion at the Convention. However, he was "barred from addressing the... Convention because of his antiabortion views."[1] At the time Casey was a popular Governor from a large swing state that had 23 electoral votes.

Casey wrote to DNC Chairman Ron Brown a week and a half before the convention, asking to address the delegates, but Brown never responded to the letter. Instead, Kathy Taylor, a Republican from Pennsylvania who had worked for Casey's 1990 GOP opponent, Barbara Hafer, delivered a pro-choice speech. After her speech DNC officials allegedly sent a camera crew with Taylor to seek out Casey and, in his words, "humiliate" him on live television. Casey had left the arena before the cameras arrived. Vice Presidential candidate Al Gore called Casey the next day to apologize.[2]

Democratic Party officials claim that Casey was not denied a speaking role because he wished to speak about his pro-life views, but rather because he had declined to endorse the party's nominee, Bill Clinton.[3] However others, such as Kathleen Brown, did not endorse Clinton but were allowed to address the convention. Casey was quoted in the New York Times saying, "I support the ticket. Period."[4]

Other pro-life Democrats such as Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Senators John Breaux and Howell Heflin, and five pro-life Democratic governors did speak. While Democratic officials said that these speakers were not barred from discussing their opposition to abortion, they nonetheless did not focus on the issue in their speeches.[5]

Outside resources

The story of the race was covered in the film The War Room and fictionalized into the novel and film Primary Colors.

Voting result in primary[6]

Notable endorsements

Bill Clinton

Paul Tsongas

Jerry Brown

Tom Harkin

References

  • Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.
  1. ^ Shailagh Murray (January 21, 2007). "Democrats Seek to Avert Abortion Clashes". The Washington Post: A5.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ The Truth About Gov. Bob Casey and The 1992 DNC Convention.
  3. ^ Michael Crowley, "Casey Closed," The New Republic, September 16, 1996.
  4. ^ Michael Decourcy Hinds, “Pennsylvania; Democratic Ticket Heads Into Fertile Territory,” New York Times July 19, 1992, Section 1, Page 20
  5. ^ Michael Crowley, "Casey Closed," The New Republic, September 16, 1996.
  6. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55212
  7. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55212
  8. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=35505
  9. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=35505
  10. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=35505
  11. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=35505
  12. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=32476
  13. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55212
  14. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55212
  15. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55212
  16. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=212671
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