Campaign Throwback: 'The Economy, Stupid'

FiveThirtyEight Politics

ABC News

News, Politics

4.6 • 20.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2024

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is the first installment of the 538 Politics podcast mini-series, “Campaign Throwback.” Across three episodes, we're taking a look back at campaign tropes from past elections such as, “it’s the economy, stupid,” or “soccer moms” or that question about which candidate you’d rather share a beer with. We’ll ask where those tropes came from, whether they were actually true at the time and if they still hold up today. Our first installment: “It’s the economy, stupid.” It's a trope that dates back to Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. Clinton's chief strategist at the time, James Carville, had three main messages for his staff to remember: 1) Change vs. more of the same 2) The economy, stupid, and 3) Don't forget about healthcare. The second message was memorialized in a 1993 documentary about the Clinton campaign called "The War Room," and has taken on a life of its own in the field of election analysis. But is it accurate? This episode originally aired in May. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	911. What is the address to emergency?
0:04.2	This 911 call began an investigation that would turn the town of Ashland, Ohio, into a crime scene.
0:11.9	We've got something big going on here.
0:13.8	The first thing you hit my mind is a monster.
0:16.7	A new series from ABC Audio in 2020.
0:20.7	The Hand in the Window.
0:23.6	Out now, wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:29.5	As in previous campaigns, it's the economy stupid.
0:32.8	We'll be looking at that this morning.
0:34.1	First, though, it's the news, stupid.
0:36.2	It is the economy stupid.
0:38.7	It's not the economy, stupid. It's not the economy,
0:43.7	stupid. It's national security stupid. It's the hair, stupid, not the economy stupid. It's the hair.
0:56.5	Hello and welcome to the 538 politics podcast. I'm Gailen Rook.
1:02.7	Happy holidays, everyone. I hope you are with your families or doing whatever brings you joy this time of year.
1:08.8	Our team is off and we're going to be re-airing our series from earlier this year called Campaign Throwback, where we looked at historical political tropes and asked
1:12.5	where those tropes came from, if they were true at the time, and if they still hold up today.
1:18.7	Our first episode is on that old saying, it's the economy stupid. This election certainly showed
1:25.5	just how big of a role the economy can play in an election.
1:29.3	It was the most important issue for voters, and in the days after President-elect Trump's victory,
1:34.8	we saw The Economy Stupid featured in headlines and articles all over the place.
1:40.3	But where did this trope come from?
	...

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