When Bill Clinton first announced he was running for President in 1991

[skipos]

how did you generally feel about it?

[waiting for hope]

1. Didn't know anything about him

at the time.

[Warpy]

2. Other

Bill WHO?

[shawmut]

3. The Guy Who Gave The Long Speech

That's all I knew about him.

[Nite Owl]

6. Me too

all I knew about him was the endless speech he gave at the convention.

[murielm99]

12. My first thought on hearing the speech:

"Who is that asshole? And why doesn't he shut up?"

Now I miss his intelligent speeches and comments.

[salin]

21. lol my thought as well...

the guy who was touted as a huge rising star, who gave the big convention speech - that droned and made one wonder why the buzz before the speech - and forget about him until his name surfaced again in 1991.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

28. Don't forget the applause...

When, in his speech, he said "Let me say in conclusion," there was a roar of applause from the convention.

At the 1992 convention, he seriously trimmed down his acceptance speech, saying to one staffer that he didn't want his "finest hour" to become his "finest hour and a half."

[Rene]

4. I was driving home from work when I heard the news announcement

about Bill Clinton, from Arkansas tossing his hat in the ring for President, on my car radio. I had an immediate very strong, reaction that I felt he would win.....and I had never heard of the guy before that reporter's statement. I had such high hopes for those 4 young people.....doing such good for our country. Bill and Hillary / Al and Tipper....such promise and progress potential........where did it go so wrong?

I still feel very positive about the 4 of themm.....and wish they'd had a fairer shake while in office, to accomplish more good things for America.







I know that Philip Mellon Sciafe began to wage a campaign against them....buying people to tell false stories. Now Sciafe is the financial backer of Lieberman. Perhaps someday we'll realy know what went on behind the scenes.

[demokatgurrl]

23. Here's a strange thing....

I can remember driving in my FIRST car, many years ago, and hearing about this "young" guy was elected governor in Arkansas. I don't know why on earth I remember that day but I do, very clearly. For some reason it really struck me. I was about 16 at the time.

[Hippo_Tron]

5. Well I was 4 at the time

So I'd say that my reacation was pretty positive.

[bigwillq]

7. Had no idea who he was

I was 13 years old

[Oldtimeralso]

8. In 1991 the real Democrat was..

and still is Tom Harkin (D) Iowa. A great workingman's representative. I wish he would run in 08.

[TygrBright]

15. You and me, both. He's the real deal.

He was my pick, too. I was wary of Bill Clinton, he gave off vibes that I later recognized as "ACA" (Adult Child of an Alcoholic) syndrome. He just NEEDED to charm people a little too much. I worried that it would overcome his undeniable intelligence at some point.

It did, unfortunately.

But he just looks so good compared to anyone else since Carter, what can ya say? And like many Presidents, he seems to have gotten a whole second wind as an "ex."

I don't DISLIKE him. I never disliked him, even when I wanted desperately to bitchsmack some sense into him.

But Harkin would have been.... well. We would have been so lucky.

I doubt he'll take another crack at it, but if he did, I'd go all out for him.

wistfully,
Bright

[bemildred]

25. Yessir. I still remember Tom.

The real deal indeed.

[mtnsnake]

9. Who gives a shit? Most Democrats of America loved it.

[neuvocat]

10. I was rooting for Ross Perot.

My dad knew about Clinton in the primaries and considered him to be a very likeable guy. Of course I voted for Clinton in the general election.

[flying_monkeys]

11. I couldn't stand him.

He wasn't liberal enough, and he talked about weird things like balancing budgets and cutting some social programs - - he was Liberal Lite. But by the time my state had its primary, Clinton had already pretty much put a lock on the results (I didn't vote for him in the Primary, but did in the Election).


He ended up not being as "scary" as I had thought, and I happily campaigned and voted for him when it was 1996.


But in '91? I couldn't stand him.

[jonnywishbone97]

13. Its a damn shame he couldnt be our 2nd 4 term President

I didnt know him from in 1988 but man I loved to hear his speeches after 1991. The guy was as charismatic as Reagan but actually gave a shit about people too.

[mentalsolstice]

14. He was young

He was/is 14 years older than me, like the guy I was dating at the time (and I've since married). I was 30 back then (omigawd I'll be 46 next month). At the time, after 12 years of Raygun/Bush, he was like JFK by comparison. Loved him then, and I love the big dawg now. I didn't/don't agree with all of his policies, but at the time it was the best we could get. And I respect him now for what he's trying to achieve.


on edit: to clarify

[skipos]

16. Not a lot of enthusiasm (from DUers) for a guy who won two elections handily

Hmmm...

[RFKHumphreyObama]

17. Didn't know who he was

Keep in mind the following factors
(1) I reside (and still do reside) in a foreign country and have never been a citizen of the US
(2) I was 10 at the time

That having been said, believe or not, I had been following US politics closely since I was nine. I think the Gulf War, the release of Nelson Mandela, the reunification of Germany, Gorbachev and so on sparked my interest. I used to watch CNN on a daily basis when it was available (we had it sporadically in the Southeast Asian country we lived in at the time but unfortunately we lost access to it when we moved to Australia) so I knew quite a lot about American politics. I remember watching Crossfire and all the other programs on CNN at the time.

I think at that time I was still enamoured with George HW Bush and wanted him to win re-election. That said, I had done quite a lot of reading on US politics and was looking forward to witnessing the 1992 presidential election in action. Still, I could never have imagined that one year later I would be enthusiastically supporting the Clinton-Gore ticket from afar and that someone I'd never heard of from a state I'd barely heard of would become my hero and would be responsible for allowing me to spend my teenage years in an era of peace, prosperity and hope

I miss him

[left of center]

18. thought I was Republican at the time

It was my first Presidential election. I was fearful when Clinton won, thinking our country would go down the tubes. I was actually one of the many Republicans who broke away from Bush senior and voted for Perot. Yep, I helped Clinton get elected!

Within about a year it turned into good news for me. While attending college, I discovered that I was actually a Democrat. I've since voted that way 90% of the time. When I break, it's when there is a moderate to liberal Republican who looks better than the Democrat, or it's when a Democrat has a snowballs chance in you know what of getting elected and/or keeping the seat and the seated Republican is a moderate who, so long as he or she serves, keeps the crazy Republicans out of that seat!

[LWolf]

19. Mostly negative.

I don't like philanderers on principle.

[LeftishBrit]

20. I don't think I was specifically aware of him in 1991

I'm British, but I've been aware of and interested in American politics for a very long time (one of the few Brits, perhaps sadly one of the few anywhere, to be a strong Dukakis fan, for instance). But I don't think I really became aware of Clinton until he actually ran in 1992. Then I was quite enthusiastic - maybe more because he was beating the Republicans than any specific policy. I needed the good news in '92, as we had a very disappointing election over here.

[demokatgurrl]

22. Neutral, but once I got to know more about him...

I was in love :loveya: (politically speaking) and I worked for his campaign just about every day after he won the primary. Best politics-related experience of my life.

[Catherine Vincent]

24. I didn't feel anything but I didn't pay attention to important stuff like that back then.

But I did pay a little attention when it was getting close to vote and I decided I didn't want to vote for the two Democrats Clinton and Gore. I thought they were too young and good looking to be running the country. So I voted for Bush 1. :eyes: I know, I was mixed up back then. Now I'm all grown up! :)

[Major Hogwash]

26. You mean before the Super Bowl 60 minutes interview?

He didn't have much "face time" before that.

[rep the dems]

27. Neutral.

I was about 1 year old at the time and had no idea who he was or that he was running for president :-)

[oberliner]

29. At Oberlin College the Democrat of choice was Jerry Brown

Brown seemed to be the Howard Dean of the 1992 election.

I remember some really nasty back and forth between Clinton and Brown.

Also, I remember that they kept saying that Paul Tsongas was the frontrunner, but Clinton was much more engaging and inspiring to listen to (Brown was also for that matter).

I kept telling people Clinton was the horse to back because he could actually win (whereas I didn't think Brown could).

Interesting how similar it was to the most recent Presidential cycle.

I'd be curious to read about other memories.