Remembering 1992

As we hurtle toward the November 3rd election here in the U.S., where presidential, federal, state and local races will be decided, I find myself longing for the past. And, it isn't some distant, long ago past that never really existed. Just the other day I was watching a five-hour-long recording, on YouTube, of the NBC News coverage of Election Night1992. There was Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, and the late John Chancellor and Tim Russert, all sitting around the newsroom, waiting on results to come in, calling states for either Bush or Clinton, and it was all so quaint and, oddly, a little charming.

I was sixteen (almost seventeen) when the November 3rd, 1992 election occurred. It was the first election cycle where I had more than a passing interest. I've no recollection whatsoever of the 1976 and 1980 presidential elections (the first two while I was alive). I remember, vaguely, that a man named Mondale and a woman named Ferraro were running against Reagan in '84. Four years later, all I can recall is that George H.W. Bush looked more presidential than Dukakis. Those were my deep thoughts on elections up through 1988.

The Persian Gulf War rattled me into paying a bit more attention to politics at the national level (I'd already been following local city council meetings for some time, and was excited to meet the first female mayor of Champaign in the early '80s). When the Gulf War started in early 1991, I was only 15, so, too young to have to worry about being caught-up in it but, at the time, no one knew how long it would go on for. What if it went on for as long as Vietnam? What if I was drafted in a few years? I remember talking through these anxieties one night at a cafe in campus town, with my friend, Zuzanna.

As it turns out, the conflict was over in a week or so (at least officially), and President Bush enjoyed a big boost in popularity as a result. But, taxes and the economy ended up being his downfall. By the time 1992 rolled around, people seemed to have soured on the incumbent of the White House, and things weren't helped by a small, loud, and engaging Texan named Ross Perot. During one of the debates, Bush had the temerity to glance at this wristwatch. It made the news, and the moment gave him some trouble. In retrospect, it seems odd that that is what constituted a ding against a candidate. Or, how about the overblown (and misreported?) incident of President Bush seeming out of touch with the average American when he supposedly seemed surprised at the existence of supermarket checkout scanners? Oh, the humanity.

Meanwhile, then-governor Clinton appeared on the hip (for the time) late night program The Arsenio Hall Show, and even played the saxophone. He was on an MTV town hall, and was famously asked whether he wore boxers or briefs. I remember young people getting a kick out of the exchange, while the older folks shook their heads in dismay that this is what presidential politics had come to. If only they'd had a crystal ball and could have seen what we're dealing with today. At any rate, Clinton seemed cool to me. Bush seemed out of touch. Those were my perceptions, not necessarily the objective truth. I couldn't vote yet, so  I was pretty much a casual bystander.

And there I was the other night, watching a nearly 30-year-old recording of hours and hours of the NBC News reporting of Election Night 1992. While watching it, I was reminded of those aforementioned memories from that pivotal year. It made me feel cozy, nostalgic, and a tad wistful. There were the styles and fashions of apparel on display from an era that, at the time, seemed cutting edge, but now stood out as the artifacts of a bygone time. They cut to a reporter at a bowling alley in Michigan, who was interviewing three people described as "Reagan Democrats" (people who typically voted Democratic, except they supported Ronald Reagan's candidacy in 1980 and 1984). The three were split - one was voting for Bush, the other Clinton, and third was undecided. Regardless, it was just such a folksy segment. I'm not sure we'd see something like it today.

Then there were the guest commentators, current and former politicians, Democrat and Republican, and the civility which they showed to one another was both refreshing to witness, and depressing to contrast with how things are today. They talk with each other like human beings, even stopping when they realized they might have cut someone off, and insisting that the other speak, or finish what they were saying. When independent candidate Ross Perot appeared before his enthusiastic crowd, he chastised his supporters for booing when he acknowledged that it looked like Clinton had won the presidency. They quickly changed course and applauded.

Early in the evening, we saw footage of Clinton jogging. I don't think that Trump or Biden go around jogging these days. I'd forgotten that Bill Clinton exercised. It was beautifully parodied in a Saturday Night Live sketch starring Phil Hartman. Earlier on Election Day, Clinton had apparently taken a nap, falling asleep while watching a John Wayne film. The thought of a Democratic candidate today admitting to watching a John Wayne movie is unthinkable. They'd be canceled. Meanwhile, Clinton won states like Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and Montana, speaking of things that are unthinkable these days for a Democratic presidential candidate. Carol Moseley Braun became the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. It seems odd that it took until 1992 for that to happen.

The commercials from 1992 were fun to watch. Ford was really pushing its Explorer SUV. MCI had an interesting ad that big-upped our strong two-party system. Can you imagine an ad like that now? It did make me look-up MCI, as I hadn't heard of it in a long time. Turns out Verizon enveloped it several years ago. When a state was called for a candidate, NBC had someone who would literally color it in behind the scenes. Again, very quaint. Speaking of colors for states, NBC used blue for Bush, and red for Clinton. That threw me off, given how red states and blue states now mean Republican and Democrat, respectively.

It was oddly reassuring to watch the Election Night coverage from 1992, as it reminded me of when things felt, well, normal. And we rarely (never?) appreciate normal times when they're here, often only in hindsight. Yes, it was a landmark year for Democrats, but it also feels like a quirky outlier of normalcy that no longer exists. A lot of folks today often scoff at the notion of civility in politics, but it's one of the basics to allow our form of government to succeed. I'm not sure if we can get back to it, and some will read this, groan, and remark that things weren't polite back then. Perhaps not, but compared to today?

I never thought I'd pine for the days of 1992, yet, here we are. It's pretty clear where we've been, good and bad. Now it's time to look ahead and see where we're going.