Reply #24: So did I. And you just contradicted yourself. It WAS the economy, stupid. [View All]

And it was CARVILLE who coined the phrase--not Stephanopolous.

The 'hope' theme--as you yourself note--was articulated as a consequence of IT's THE ECONOMY, stupid.

Of course we know that the SIGN was pinned up behind JC's desk in campaign HQ at Little Rock. The reason the SIGN was there is because it was an admonition to STAY ON THE ECONOMIC MESSAGE. It wasn't just "cleverness"--it was the focus. There were a few other points accompanying that mantra, having to do with (ironically) CHANGE, and HEALTH CARE. The economy was actually the second point.

And Clinton, as he always did, got down to plain speaking and direct details--not generalities like "hope"--that shit came at the END of the commercials, not on the stump--he called it job retraining and practical, government assistance to turn bad regional economies around. He flat-out told people who'd been tossed out of work by Romney-style venture capitalists that those mill jobs weren't coming back, and people needed help, from education to job retraining, to get back on their feet.

If that's not "It's the economy" I don't know what is.