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United States presidential election, 1996

653 bytes added, 05:10, December 31, 2009
/* American Dream */ voters
==American Dream==
The theme of the Republican convention was 'Restoring the American Dream,' and convention speeches were filled with [[American Dream]] imagery. Dole's own speech stressed individualism over collectivism and called for a broad, even multicultural, interpretation of the American Dream. In their acceptance speeches, Democrats have traditionally focused on the importance of community and society while Republicans have increasingly emphasized individual struggle. In 1996, the nomination acceptance speeches of Dole's opponents, Clinton and particularly Perot, borrowed from the Republican vision of individualism and personal responsibility which first gained popularity with the [[Ronald Reagan]] presidency of the 1980s. The persistence of American Dream imagery in the speeches of party nominees since the 1960's shows the confidence politicians place in its appeal. The presidential candidates who have best articulated the country's visions and values have been victorious.<ref>Ray D. Dearin, "The American Dream as Depicted in Robert J. Dole's 1996 Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 1997 27(4): 698-713, </ref>
==Voters===Analysis of polling data shows that the economy was the dominant factor in accounting for voter decisions in 1992, and Clinton, not Perot, was the beneficiary of economic discontent. While issues (mainly abortion) and ideology did play some role, Clinton was not perceived by the electorate as a New Democrat. There was little support for the hypothesis of angry voting. Perot took more votes from Bush than from Clinton.<ref> R. Michael Alvarez and Jonathan Nagler, "Economics, Issues and the Perot Candidacy: Voter Choice in the 1992 Presidential Election," ''American Journal of Political Science'' 1995 39(3): 714-744, in [[EBSCO]]</ref> 
==Results<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1996 Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections]</ref>==
[[File:1996ev.jpg|thumb|550px|left]]
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