Legendary unofficial slogan for
Bill Clinton’s
1992 presidential campaign. It was devised by
James Carville and featured on a sign in Clinton’s
Little Rock campaign headquarters. It had its genesis in a
haiku Carville had penned:
Change vs. more of the same
The economy, stupid
Don’t forget health care.
After the
Gulf War, incumbent president
George Bush was considered unbeatable, according to conventional wisdom. But Americans soon put away their
yellow ribbons and remembered that Bush had neglected domestic affairs during his entire tenure in office. Despite Bush’s attempts to distract the issue with patriotic chest beating about
flag burning and
draft dodging and student trips to
Moscow, with the
mantra of "It’s the economy, stupid!", the Clinton campaign focused on the very things that Bush ignored and people actually cared about.
The phrase, of course, inspired countless lame jokes and parodies, and a sequel in
1996: "It’s STILL the economy, stupid!" The lamest of the lame was perhaps the buttons
Republicans sported in
1993 attacking Clinton’s economic package: "It’s
spending, stupid!" Please leave
comedy to the professionals, guys.