1992 Democratic presidential primary
The 1992 Democratic presidential primary chose the Democratic nominee for the general election.
*
Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr., former governor of
California*
William J. Clinton, governor of
Arkansas (nominee)
*
Thomas R. Harkin, U.S. senator from
Iowa*
J. Robert Kerrey, U.S. senator from
Nebraska*
Paul M. Simon, U.S. senator from
Illinois*
Paul E. Tsongas, former U.S. senator from
Massachusetts*
L. Douglas Wilder, governor of
VirginiaThe 1992 election was thought to be nearly unwinable by many Democrats. President
George Herbert Walker 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
Mario Cuomo and
Dick Gephardt, stayed out of the election and the contestants became known as the "Seven Dwarfs" (a sarcastic reference to the Disney movie
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) as none was extremely well known.
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 as surprise strong second
New Hampshire he was proclaimed to be the "comeback kid" and gained a great deal of momentum. Meanwhile, Tsongas became plagued by questions about his health. Clinton eventually won a major victory in
Illinois and swept the rest of the country. Brown emerged as the liberal alternative to Clinton towards the end, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
The story of the race was covered in the film
The War Room and fictionalized into the novel and film
Primary Colors.
*Clinton, Bill (2005).
My Life. Vintage. ISBN 140003003X.
*
Democrats 1992
