The year was 1992. The GOP was in shambles. Bill Clinton became the first Democrat to win the Presidency in 12 years. George HW Bush received only 37% of the popular vote. The Democrats controlled the Presidency, the House and the Senate.
Then one man stood up and stymied the Clinton agenda: Bob Dole. Because Perot won nearly 20% of the vote, Bill Clinton had won only 43% of the vote. And Bob Dole made sure everyone knew that Bill Clinton was a minority president.
Bob Dole had already stirred the ashes of George Bush's defeat and found an ember of opportunity.
"Fifty-seven percent of the Americans who voted in the presidential election voted against Bill Clinton," the Republican leader of the Senate declared with his familiar growl, "and I intend to represent that majority on the floor of the U.S. Senate. If Bill Clinton has a mandate, then so do I."
Every Democratic Senator should repeat that quote. It was extraordinarily effective.
Through the filibuster and talk show framing, Dole strangled the Clinton $16.3 billion stimulus as a pork-laden budget buster.
Dole and the GOP pounced on the nomination of Lani Guinier as a “quota queen” and forced Clinton to withdraw her nomination. They quickly forced Clinton to back down from his promise to end the ban on gays in the military.
They killed Clinton’s healthcare reform plan and even proposed a plan of their own which is nearly identical to the ACA that was adopted in 2008.
Clinton paid dearly for underestimating Bob Dole. If we look back at Clinton’s disappointments, many can be attributed to this failure.
Snapped [Clinton] White House political director Rahm Emmanuel: "Yeah, we made a miscalculation. Nobody knew Bob Dole was going to start running for President within the first hundred days."
Bob Dole should be our role model. Cook Political Report currently has the popular vote totals as Clinton 48.2% Trump 46.4% Others 5.4%. Every Democratic Senator should repeatedly paraphrase Bob Dole:
"Fifty-four percent of the Americans who voted in the presidential election voted against Donald Trump, and I intend to represent that majority on the floor of the U.S. Senate. If Donald Trump has a mandate, then so do I."
If the GOP complains, tell them to send their complaints to Bob Dole.