How to Win Elections Like Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton is one of the most successful political candidates in modern times. He became the attorney general of Arkansas at the age of 30. At the age of 32, he became the youngest governor of Arkansas and went on to win five gubernatorial elections. He later won landslide victories in the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Appear positive while attacking your opponent. Bill Clinton usually speaks positively of his opponent's character and often refers to his opponents as "friends." However, behind his positive campaigning, he usually runs hard-hitting negative television advertisements and uses surrogates to attack his opponents. This allows him to stay above the fray of negative campaigning.
2. Inspire people with a positive vision for the future. Bill Clinton is famous for sayings such as "don't ever stop thinking about tomorrow" and "building a bridge to the 21st century." He has stated he believes all elections are about the future, not the past, and focuses his campaigning on what his policies will bring about in the future instead of what he or his opponents have done in the past.
3. Respond rapidly to the other side and news developments. Bill Clinton, along with advisers James Carville, Paul Begala and George Stephanopoulos pioneered the modern political rapid response team. From their "war room" in the 1992 and 1996 campaigns they quickly sent out messages to the media about current events or actions of the opposing campaign.
4. Surround yourself with people who compliment your strengths. Many politicians try to surround themselves with people who are strong where they are weak in order to balance their campaign. However, Bill Clinton, a young, southern, moderate Democrat chose Al Gore, a fellow young, southern moderate Democrat to be his running mate. Gore helped Clinton highlight what voters found appealing about him.
5. Identify the mood of the electorate. One of the keys to Bill Clinton's success in his elections was tapping into the key issues affecting voters. George H. W. Bush was a popular commander-in-chief in 1992, but Clinton recognized the economy as the key issue and made it the central issue of his campaign.
6. Get in touch with ordinary voters. Bill Clinton is famous for reaching out to average middle-class voters with his rhetoric. His famous "I feel your pain" saying is an example. He also often uses examples of real-life people and their problems to explain how his policies would be of help to ordinary people.