The War Room Reaction
In the documentary, The War Room, James Carville suggested that, through the Clinton campaign of 1992, "they changed the way campaigns are won." What did he mean by this claim? What did Carville and George Stephanopoulos do differently in this campaign? What did the statement, "It's the Economy Stupid" mean? What might the 2016 version of this mantra be?
Be sure to use examples from the film in your response and consider what "The War Room" looked like in the 2016 election.
Carville and George Stephanopoulos attempted to appeal to the people and avoid personal attacks. They largely ignored the accusations of the Bush camp in running their campaign. Instead of focusing on a multitude of unimportant issues like the draft, the Clinton camp focused solely on their motifs of change, the economy ("It's the Economy, Stupid"), and healthcare. The three similar issues of the 2016 election probably would have been positions on healthcare, economic growth, and political and societal change, whether to the right or to the left.
ReplyDeleteCarville and Stephanopoulos differentiated their campaign from previous ones through not letting the criticism of the media alter their respective viewpoints and overall political stance. They would set a precedent for future elections to come. In addition to winning by the alternative measures taken, Clinton won by a landslide at the very end, which is unheard of. Both of these men played crucial roles in Clinton winning the election by continuing to standby key points during the entire course of the presidential process. Important focuses for the campaign included Clinton being a centrist, so he couldn’t easily be identified as liberal allowing him to reach a greater range of voters. Clinton wanted to end welfare, balance the budget, and cut spending—all traditionally Republican positions. “It’s the Economy stupid” outlined Clinton’s ability to isolate other seemingly minor details but rather solely on our country’s future. A 2016 mantra might also include economic growth as a key concern as well as societal or political change.
ReplyDeleteCarville and Stephanopoulos ran Bill Clinton's campaign differently by ignoring the outside noise and criticism created by the media. They did not let these criticisms change the way Bill Clinton ran for President. The Clinton Campaign ran on the idea of "it's the economy, stupid". Clinton wanted to simplify the economy by balancing the budget and cut spending on everything. He also wanted to fix healthcare for everyone. Much like the 1992 election, the 2016 election was focused on the similar principles of the economy, healthcare, and a political change.
ReplyDeleteStephanopoulos and Carville changed the way campaigns worked by avoiding direct personal attacks towards opponents, criticizing opponents' policies, and taking a neutral political stance. They also did not let the media affect their campaign, even though Bill Clinton faced campaign damaging scandals. The Clinton campaign did not utilize personal attacks towards Bush, but instead criticized his policies and promises to the people. "It's the Economy stupid"criticizes Bush's false promises to people, even though the government would not be able to provide funding towards the promises. This key slogan for the campaign became a vital tool and set a basis for what Clinton would be working towards. In the 2016 election, Trump utilized the phrase "Drain the swamp" to appeal towards his audience. Trump wanted to change the politicians and bring new people into the government to try and make change, which appealed to his voters who believed the government was unable to make change with its current workers.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the entire campaign, Carville and Stephanopolous organized the campaign staff to work as a team. When Carville stated that "they changed the way campaigns are won" due to their strategy. At the end of the film, Carville talked to the campaign team about how they did not have a social hierarchy, but worked almost like a family. This inclusive and collaborative mindset is a major factor to helping them be so successful. They coined statements which caught on as catchphrases such as "It's the Economy, stupid" or "Read my lips: no new taxes". They shifted their focus from just the economy in this campaign to heavily discussing healthcare and other important changes they believed had to be made. "Read my lips: no new taxes" was a popular promise Clinton made during his campaign. The 2016 version of the "it's the Economy, stupid" mantra could possibly be a spin-off having to do with fixing the problem of social and economic inequality.
ReplyDeleteWhat made Clinton's campaign team, ran by Carville and Stephanopolous, so unique is their capability to run the staff as a team and work as a family. Towards the end of the film, their love for each other and emotions towards what they believed in were transparent. Carville was the more emotionally vocal leader of the pack and always worked for what he believed in. Stephanopolous was more of the behind the scenes leader, working more on the phone and with the data behind Clinton's campaign. Clinton was constantly facing backlash and obstacles related to the media, but his campaign team never let that get in the way and they helped Clinton show what he would be capable of as the President. Bush would repeatedly bring up Clinton's infidelity and other issues, such as his view on Vietnam. However, Carville never told Clinton to bash Bush's life, only his policies. The campaign managers focused solely on Clinton and what was best for HIS campaign, not what was bad for Bush. They used the phrase "Its the Economy, Stupid" when speaking about the pretentious promises Bush had been making about fixing the economy. Clinton wanted to balance the economy and make it simpler. His plan was to cut incessant spendings and focus on utilizing what money they could be saving. The 2016 version of this was Trump's slogan of Make America Great Again relating to fixing the problems of social injustice and immigrant and healthcare issues.
ReplyDeleteJames Carville describes the idea that they have set the new precedent of how a campaign is run. Before the 1992 elections, campaigns were normally run in a very hierarchical process. People worked in certain areas of action and they were not allowed to cross over. In the film, Carville made a reference to how the lowest members worked on the first floor and they would never make it up to the top. This idea of hierarchical progression did not allow for any interconnections and working together in a beneficial way. With a campaign team working together, they are the strongest they can be which allows them to win campaigns. Carville and Stephanopoulos both worked on media but Carville took more of the credit and Stephanopoulos interacted more with media and did the behind the scene. The statement “It’s the Economy Stupid” was a term used by the Clinton campaign to undermine the reelection of Bush. There was a major prevailing recession going on in the United States at the time of the election, so the Clinton campaign used this issue as their main driving force to win the election of 1992. I believe the mantra of the 2016 election was “Build the wall”. Trump used this to his advantage to win the public over the controversial subject of immigration.
ReplyDeleteCarville and Stephanopoulos changed campaigning by talking about what was really important. They stayed away from simply attacking their opponents policies and personal insults. They instead focused on their own policies. "It's the economy stupid" perfectly represents how they focused on what was important, their policies. The Clinton campaign sought to cut spending and balance the budget, so that's what they campaigned about. They ignored the media and scandals reflecting only Clinton's character. They focused on the politics. I mantra used in the 2016 election was Trump's phrase "drain the swamp," referring to bringing in all new politician into Washington in order to revitalize the government.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that struck me the most about the film was the energy and vivacity of the two men. The entire campaign staff had a refreshing energy and wanted Clinton to be president because they believed that he would change the country for the better. There were no ulterior motives or agendas for George and James. That vibe contributed to why the campaign was successful and different. Clinton made it about why he should be elected and why he can help people. The saying coined by James was referring to the fact that any question could be answered with that, people care about the economy. In this election, If I could pick a quote it would be "It's Healthcare Stupid!"
ReplyDeleteGeorge and James changed the way elections are run because of their plan to work together and only focus on why they thought Clinton should win on policy. The film shows the two of them discussing whether or not to use Bush in a negative light because of the way that they were treated, but they ended up deciding not to. Instead of fighting back with personal facts, they used Bush's policies against him and pushed for Clinton's policies to be the better of the two. The saying James referred to involved how anything could be tied back to the receding economy and that would attract more voters. In 2016, the 1992 election shows no ties to the most recent one because of all of the personal attracts. Also, if both of the candidates had focused solely on policy during the election, the quote would be "It's the Swamp Stupid". Everything in the election surrounded the ever growing cloud of the political swamp in Washington
ReplyDeleteJames and George changed the game because they did not focus on attacking the opponent. Instead they focused on Clinton's strengths and his policies to keep the attention on Clinton's good qualities. They also showed everybody that they all worked as a team and fully supported Clinton and his capabilities to be the next President. Them staying away from attacking the other opponents changed the game completely because it showed that Clinton won without cheaply accusing anybody. People need to care about the economy, so the quote relates to how much people need to focus on the important things. Today the quote would be "It's the facts Stupid". People need to pay attention to the facts of things in politics today, and that is not being focused on with Donald Trump.
ReplyDeleteCarville and Stephanopoulos were able to change the way campaigns were ran by focusing on the political aspect of the race instead of on personal attacks. They were able to put a magnifying glass on the weak promises made by the Bush campaign and how their policies could benefit the people more. By using the phrase "It's the economy stupid" the Clinton campaign is showcasing the false promises presented by Bush when in reality there is no possible way of him achieving these things. A phrase used during the 2016 elections by Trump was "drain the swamp". This represented Trumps desire to get rid of the people who all had the same mindset about the government. He wanted to bring in fresh new politicians and this really appealed to his voters who thought the government never got anything done.
ReplyDeleteJames Carville and George Stephanopoulos changed the way campaigns are won by presenting Bill Clinton in as both an average American man and a politician. The balance between these two sides in addition to not letting every media attack rattle them is why the campaign was able to withstand many challenges and ultimately yield success. The statement “It’s the Economy, Stupid” means that no matter what additional plans and promises Carville and Stephanopoulos were to suggest, it always needed to tie back into the economy. This relation was significant because money is the biggest motivator. Therefore, if their candidate had many aspects that focused on improving the economy, the voters would be more inclined to vote for Bill Clinton out of their own self-interest and the prospect of financial increase. The 2016 version of the Clinton campaign's mantra could be something like “Make America Great Again" because of how electrified the thought of being better and "great again" caused Trump supporters to be.
ReplyDeleteJames Carville and George Stephanopoulos changed the way campaign's are run in several ways. A key difference in the way they managed Clinton's campaign was they had one giant war room instead of having multiple floors of people working. Carville emphasized that all the people that helped run the campaign saw each other as family. Unlike the Bush campaign, The Clinton campaign tried really to stick to the subjects that truly matter to the public. Carville thought it was unnecessary to discuss Clinton's personal life. I think the phrase "It's the Economy Stupid" is a way of Carville venting his frustrations with the Bush campaign. The manta for the 2016 election would probably be "It's the Healthcare Stupid" as that was one of hottest debated political topics.
ReplyDeleteJames Carville and George Stephanopoulos changed the way campaigns are won by focusing on the political aspects of the campaign rather than resorting to personal attacks. Instead of responding to an attack Bush would make about Clinton's infidelity with a personal attack aimed at Bush, they would remain on course and perfect their arguments for Clinton's policies versus Bush's policies. Instead of attacking Bush, they attacked his shallow promises, a tactic that rewarded the Clinton campaign greatly. The Clinton campaign rightfully so believed that moral character was inconsequential to the people, and that what the president can do for the country is their primary concern. Carville expressed his critical view of the Bush administration with the phrase "It's the Economy, Stupid." He is pointing out that no one cares about Clinton's personal life, or what he said about Vietnam way back when. They care about whether or not they will be able to put food on the table, or find work, or pay their mortgages. They care about the economy.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Stephanopoulos and James Carville changed the traditional political strategy from attacking the opposing candidates to focusing more on the political side of the campaign. They wanted to appeal more to the American people by having a neutral take on their side of the election. When Carville said "they changed the way campaigns are won," he meant how they did not rely on bashing and criticizing the enemy, they focused on Clinton's strengths in order to show the American people that Clinton could handle being president. They used the saying "Its the economy, stupid" to show how they focused on their own policies of the economy in how to beat Bush in the election of 1992, but this also shows Carville taking out his frustration on the Bush campaign. The 2016 mantra of this could be Trump's famous saying of "Make America Great Again," which primarily showed how he was focused on to make our country the best version it could be.
ReplyDeleteThe way George Stephanopoulos and James Carville won the campaign was untraditional and new. The decided to not attack the opposing candidate but instead to focus more on their candidate and campaign him more. They did not bash the other candidate like past elections. They focused mainly on Clinton and aimed to promote him as the best candidate. The saying "Its the economy, stupid" is to show how they would focus of there on policies and goals. The 2016 mantra of this is Donald Trumps "Make America Great Again".
ReplyDeleteStephanopoulos and Carville ran the Clinton campaign focused on their own candidate instead of trying to smear Bush. Clinton's advisors stayed completely focused on politics, trying to better their arguments and debate materials. The people working for the Clinton campaign saw one another as friends and family, and that helped to create a positive work environment. "Its the economy, stupid" was meant to fire a subtle shot towards the Bush administration. The goal was to be more focused and prepared towards making a change to the economy, instead of worrying about the less important matters. I believe that the 2016 mantra was "Its Obamacare, stupid!"
ReplyDeleteGeorge Stephanopoulos and James Carville ran Bill Clinton's campaign in a manner that was never seen before by bringing attention to Clinton and persuading Americans why he was the best. they refrained from continuously criticizing their opponent and focused on their own message, which both raised their awareness and showed Americans that they were taking the high road in a way. The famous phrase "Its the economy, stupid" was used as a "target" that would attract voters since the economy is such a prominent subject in American politics. If voters thought the economy was a big problem under the incumbent president, then Carville was betting that they would vote for Clinton instead.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Stephanopoulos and James Carville used persuasive tactics to ultimately win the election. They made the race interesting by using the media and focusing more on Clinton and building his character than on capitalizing off of Bush and his mistakes.
ReplyDeleteJames Carville and George Stephanopoulos changed campaigning by representing Bill Clinton in the most inspirational ways possible and spending less time on counteracting their opponent. They coined the phrase "the economy, stupid" in order to give their supporters a simple message that was easy to get behind. The 2016 equivalent of this phrase would be Trump's motto "Make America Great Again" which ultimately became a movement that fueled his success.
ReplyDeleteJames Carville and George Stephanopoulos changed the way campaigns are run by showing all of the good things Clinton did rather than publicly criticizing the other candidates. They were really the first campaign to want to use the media for positive reasons rather than feeling forced to talk to media. "It's the Economy, Stupid" was a phrase that citizens could easily remember and get behind. The 2016 motto that closest resembles this would be Trump's "Make America Great Again"
ReplyDeleteClinton's campaign managers, James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, revolutionized the way presidential campaigns were run and won. Instead of exposing all of the terrible things George Bush was responsible for, they displayed all of the great thing Clinton was. "It's the Economy, Stupid" was an easy slogan and phrase that the American people could rally behind. It closely mirrors Trumps slogan of "Make America Great Again." The Clinton campaign also used the media outlet as a positive resource to bolster Clinton's campaign.
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