BOB DOLE : 1995 Clinton's Comeback

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We have finally arrived to the final day on the trail for George H. W. Bush , Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot. It had been an election for the history books, as hard a fought battle as I had ever witnessed in my then short lifetime. You could not have asked for more formidable candidates to face each other than the three men who had shared the national stage together over the past year. Each with enormous strengths and each with well thought out strategies for victory on that first November tuesday. 

In this episode we will visit in on the final two rallies of the 1992 election for Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush. We could not find a final rally for Ross Perot as we combed our videos and the internet, so for that we apologize. 

What will stand out to our audience we think is the final Bush rally because it will feature for the final time , the old guard of politics and entertainment standing on stage with President Bush in Houston. For many of them this was their final Presidential campaign as the leadership of the nation. The President will be joined by Charlton Heston, Ted Williams, The Gatlin Brothers, Naomi Judd, and the legendary entertainer Bob Hope. The last hoorah for a generation of American leadership in both politics and entertainment. 

The next day George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot would face the voters from sea to shining sea. 

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Few offices in the history of our government have produced more harm, to more people, more often, and more efficiently that the office created in 1973 to investigate the Watergate Scandal. The Special Prosecutor's statute stayed on the books the rest of the 20th century and was used to wound the reelection campaign of George H. W. Bush, and then cripple the final years of the Presidency of Bill Clinton. It has horribly damaged the historical legacies of four United States Presidents: Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. 

Ironically, the very party who dreamed this evil institution up, the Democratic Party,  was the same one to end it when the statue expired in 1999, but only after it had been effectively used to demolish a President of their own party, even as the Impeachment attempt failed to remove Bill Clinton from office.  Then congress invented its bastardized cousin, the Special Counsel statue. While it does have some modest restraints compared to the absolute total powers of the Special Prosecutor's statute, the record of abuse there may not be fully known until our current era, centered around Donald Trump, is over. 

As we look back at the 1992 Presidential Election and its controversial end. We thought this the perfect opportunity to show to our listeners the full impact of the 30 years of dishonesty that has been used to devastatingly wound four American Presidencies. But even worse than the damage done to the institution of the Presidency is the personal destruction it has wrought on the innocent aids to these Presidents. Often young men and women, whose only real crime was earnestly wanting to play role in the history of the nation and seize the opportunity so few people get in life, the chance to work for the President of the United States. 

Instead, many faced prison time, and were financially wiped out, while the most dastardly, horrible , unethical people you could have ever dreamed up paraded themselves on television and in books as lawyers who champion justice while playing on the trusting nature of a naive public that still believes that our Justice System is the one uncorrupted branch of government left in the land. Here we lay everything out, the abuses of power, and the intentionally corrupt birth of the most evil office our government has ever created. We hope it will serve as a warning for what we have seen in our more modern times, so that perhaps wise heads will see to it that this institution dies, with a stake through its heart. Like this bloodsucking vampire of an institution of division and destruction  truly deserves. 

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In this episode I really want to give you the feeling that George H. W. Bush had finally turned the corner because that was what was really happening at the end of the 1992 campaign. After a tough primary challenge from a surprisingly strong Pat Buchanan, an upstart billionaire in Ross Perot jumping in who had a personal ax to grind with Bush going back many years, and then a formidable, charismatic, Southern Governor in Bill Clinton to face at the head of a resurgent Democratic Party, all combined with a struggling economy, George Bush finally had some momentum heading into the final week of the campaign. 

The economy had seen some improvement with a 2.8% growth rate in the the third quarter of 1992, and Bush was seeing many of his initiative's bearing fruit out in the electorate. Plus, Bush was seen by everyone as having been a very effective foreign policy President, it seemed that the doubts about the other two leading candidates had finally started to settle in, and people were coming home to the President.  The polls by the Wednesday prior to the election had the race in a statistical dead heat. Bush was energized by all the good news and he had one strong card that he was about to play in the final weekend. 

That card was former President Ronald Reagan, the most popular public figure in a generation, and he was out on the trail for the final time in order to help his former Vice President. All the news for Bush seemed good, Clinton and his team were worried. 

And then, the sinister hand of the most evil office ever created by our country would strike again. The Iran Contra Special Prosecutor would indict former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and several others, and they would document dump a number of records into the debate including notes , that everyone had already known existed, that contradicted Bush's earlier statements about his knowledge of the Iran Contra Affair and the sale of weapons to Iran for the release of hostages. 

The results of that October Surprise engineered by the Special Prosecutor was the stopping of all of that momentum, the Clinton Campaign pounced on the news, and the momentum of the entire election swung totally back to the Governor in those final four days. It would lead to hard and bitter feelings amongst Republicans that to this day have never faded away and cemented in the mind of one Republican, our Host Randal Wallace, that their has never been a more evil office than the Special Prosecutor's Office in our system of government, and that the use of lawfare so flagrantly is the root source of much of the bitter divisiveness that has finally  ground our system to halt 32 years later. 

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In this episode we will tune in to a  Ross Perot Rally in Missouri. It will give you a chance to hear the upstart billionaire as he leads his revolutionary campaign through the heartland of America. 

"Hi, I'm Ross and you're the Boss" became his tag line and he hit it over and over again, telling the enthusiastic crowds that they finally had a candidate that understood that the candidate had to answer to them. In doing so he hit a nerve with the electorate and led to generation, or more, of political figures, no matter how entrenched, claiming that they too knew that the public was the boss. 

His campaign and its themes also draw a striking resemblance to another billionaire who will take up the mantle of maverick campaigner and revolutionary leader.  A man named Donald Trump. Trump would grab more than one theme , and from more than one candidate, in this era, and this particular campaign year that he would use in his own campaigns in three runs for the Presidency in 2016, 2020, and again last year n 2024. 

Here is the original billionaire turned Presidential candidate and consummate outsider at his very best on the campaign trail in 1992. Here is H. Ross Perot. 

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Judy Rodman was a towering figure in the history of the city of Myrtle Beach. Starting as the Horry County Co-Chair for the Bob Dole for President campaign in 1988, then serving three terms, in two different eras, on the Myrtle Beach City Council, and then serving as a member of the City owned Myrtle Beach Sheraton Hotel Board, and throughout her entire tenure the city's representative on the South Carolina Hall of Fame Board, Judy Rodman maintained a dominant presence in the growth and success of the city of Myrtle Beach S.C. 

It cannot be overstated the powerful role she has played in turning this once sleepy, seasonal, tourist destination for North and South Carolina residents into an international tourism powerhouse. Through it all, Judy Rodman was there and her influence is literally everywhere you look as you drive down any road in the city she called home. Judy Rodman led initiatives to put utilities underground, protect trees, limit the number of billboards, build a Convention hotel, improve the cities recreation facilities, and look out for the growing senior population that has now grown to be the majority of the residents that have made the Myrtle Beach area their home. 

Judy Rodman did it all in her quiet, intelligent, understated way, often overshadowed by the more boisterous personalities of the Mayors and council people she served with in her decades of service to the city of Myrtle Beach in several different capacities.  In this special edition of our podcast we try to capture some of the magic that was always present whenever Judy Rodman entered the room, as our community,  Myrtle Beach,  says farewell to , as Senator Ernest Hollings once said of Senator Strom Thurmond upon his passing, " A Mighty Oak in the world of public service" 

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It is time to hit the trail in the final couple of weeks of the 1992 campaign. I figured we would take off with the three Vice Presidential candidates in this episode. They were Vice President Dan Quayle, Senator Al Gore, and Admiral James Stockdale. 

We will start out spending the the day with Dan Quayle. You will hear him interacting with the public, giving a campaign speech, and being interviewed by the press. This selection of events really does give you a feel for what it is like on the Presidential campaign trail for these candidates. It us up early in the morning and out late at night. 

This campaign really is a high spot for the Vice President Dan Quayle who I feel was often unfairly maligned. He was a much better campaigner than anyone has given him credit and I feel like he performed outstandingly through out the 1992 campaign. In fact, it was his Vice Presidential Debate performance that finally began to close the gap between the President and Governor Bill Clinton. 

This episode then turns to a campaign rally given for Senator Al Gore. You will hear him giving one of his stump speeches in the final weeks of the campaign. Al Gore is also a much better campaigner than you may think. I have always felt he was actually better in 1992 and 1996 than his performance at the top of the ticket in 2000. This speech is guaranteed to fire you up and it too will give you a feel of what it was like to be on the campaign trail in 1992. 

Finally, we will introduce you to the true American Hero that was on the ticket in 1992, Admiral James Stockdale. Stockdale was a far more formidable man than his performance in the Vice Presidential debates would lead you to believe. He had been the President of the War College and had led troops in Vietnam as a POW, creating a civilization and working to keep the troops spirits alive in captivity for nearly 8 years.  It seems a shame to me that he is only remembered today for his Vice Presidential debate performance. 

We hope to change that here by letting you hear his video biography from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society because among James Stockdale's many honors he was a member of this most exclusive clubs of men who have attained the highest honor available in the land, the Congressional Medal of Honor. We want to end this episode honoring this extraordinary achievement from this extraordinary man. 

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Welcome to the South Carolina United States Senate Debate in 1992. It was a barn burner of a debate between two very formidable figures: Senator Ernest Hollings and Former Congressman Tommy Hartnett. 

So sit back, pop up the popcorn, and find the southern native friend you have who may be able to help you understand these two combatants with the thick Charlestonian accents, because this is a debate you will thoroughly enjoy if you like to hear brilliant people, discussing real policy, with tremendous passion. 

It was a debate for the ages. 

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In 1992, South Carolina featured a heated Senate race that featured two very experienced and respected political figures in incumbent senator Ernest Hollings and his challenger former Congressman Tommy Hartnett. It would be the toughest challenge for Hollings in decades because not only was Hartnett a formidable challenger but the political dynamics in South Carolina were changing fast as the state grew more conservative and more Republican. 

But Ernest Hollings was a towering political figure. He had been at the forefront of political crusades to feed the hungry, keep the military strong, protect manufacturing jobs, and stop the massive amounts of money flowing into political races. Holling's fit the bill that had often been how South Carolinian's described liking their politicians, "Ernest Hollings fought hard for what he believed in, even when he was wrong." That always appealed to people in the state even when they disagreed with the Senator. 

His opponent in the race was former Representative Tommy Hartnett, the former congressman from the South Carolina First District, which included Charleston S.C. where the Senator was from too. Hartnett was a champion for fiscal responsibility, supported term limits for Congress, and fought to keep the budget under control. He had arrived in Washington D.c. as part of the Reagan Revolution in 1980 and served for six years in Congress before deciding to come home and run for Lieutenant Governor. After nearly, two and half decades in public life, first as South Carolina State House member, he lost the race for Lieutenant Governor and this was his attempt at a comeback. 

This was an exciting race between two formidable men. In this episode, we will look at the careers of both men and their thoughts on Government and what they both feel is the problems our nation at the time faced. Many of those issues still plague us now. In the end, we will focus in on the legendary career of the incumbent, a man considered a giant of American Politics both at home and in Washington D.C. He became famous for his southern Charleston drawl, his towering physical frame, and his often blunt, fiery positions, on issues, always on the side of the little man he had been sent to the Senate to represent. 

Then in our next episode we will present the South Carolina United States Senate debate and let me warn you, it will be exciting, but unless you are from South Carolina you may need an interpreter to understand them. 

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In this special edition episode of our podcast we take a look back at a very special man, former Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming. He passed away in March at age 93. He had been the Senate Republican Whip under Bob Dole for a decade and together they made the institution work. 

Alan Simpson had one of the best wits in the Senate, or even all of Congress. He could make you laugh outload uproariously at times. He also never pulled any punches, whether it was holding the President of the opposing party to the fire, or even some of the leadership of his own. Alan Simpson never shied away from a fight or a controversial issue, including calling the AARP on the carpet as a special interest group held together in the quest of discount airline tickets. Alan Simpson was one of a kind. 

Alan Simpson will be missed and in this episode we will take a few minutes to enjoy his personality one more time. We will also learn about his very special friendship forged behind the barbed wire fence of a Japanese internment camp during World War 2 with another Boy Scout who would go on to be a United States Congressman and Cabinet member, Norman Moneta. Plus, we will hear him remember his times in Washington with two other of his great friends, who are very important to our podcast, former President George H. W. Bush, who we are chronicling now, and Bob Dole who will be the next man we chronicle. 

This show is a lot of fun looking back at a man who could best be described as that, fun. 

Also, this show has a long dedication to three other great people admired by our host, his aunt Katherine Wallace, South Carolina former Representative Bubber Snow, and "Big" George Foreman, the former 2 time World Boxing Champion, and the man who stole America's heart with his miraculous comeback win at 45 in boxing, and his amazingly good cooking grille. 

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This might be the most fun episode we ever produced. As we look back at George H. W. Bush , Pro wrestling fan. With the help of Charleston Post and Courier articles written by their star reporter Mike Mooneyham, we will examine the Bush connection to the world of Professional wrestling and especially his fondness for wrestling's greatest athlete, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. 

We will hear about Bush's friendship with promoter Paul Boesch, his lifelong connection to "Chief" Ed "Wahoo" McDaniel, and his later friendship with "The Big Cat" Ernie Ladd. We will also hit the trail , in 1992, on the whistlestop tour that took George Bush through the Carolinas, with the biggest sports star of them all, Ric Flair. 

It was at a rally in Spartanburg S.C. where our Host, Randal Wallace, was able to maneuver himself up near the front with a little help from Martha Bishop, the sister of our Senator Strom Thurmond, so he would be nearly front row for the rally at the Train Depot, that would feature not only the President, but Governor Carrol Campbell, Lieutenant Governor Bob Peeler, Senator Strom Thurmond, Congressional Candidate Bob Inglis, and our host's childhood sports hero, Ric Flair. To this day, as you will hear, it remains Wallace's favorite memory of any in his over 45 years in politics. 

Unfortunately, we couldn't find any footage from the Spartanburg rally, but we do have some examples of George Bush out on his 1992 whistle-stop tour, and we do have some later moments from the 2008 Presidential campaign where Ric Flair would return to the trail to campaign for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. 

It was at the event for Huckabee in Myrtle Beach that our host again became the focus of attention as he stood with a folder full of wrestling magazines hoping to get them autographed by Ric Flair, at the Huckabee rally, while serving as the Rudy Giuliani Horry County Chairman. It made the news, in two articles in the Sun News political blog Poli-tick-Tock. We will look back at that blog too, and feature the Columbia Mike Huckabee Rally with Chuck Norris and Ric Flair. 

As you will hear, Hulk Hogan and Donald Trump were actually not the first Pro wrestler and President to headline a Presidential campaign event!! 

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