“It’s the economy, stupid!” was a phrase quipped by James Carville, strategist of Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 campaign against former US President George HW Bush.
Well, was it just the economy, or is there more to this intriguing situation?
The University of the Third Age (U3A) Helderberg welcomes the eminently qualified Advocate John Myburgh as guest speaker to address members and visitors on the 1992 US presidential election won by Clinton over the Bush and the independent candidate Ross Perot at its monthly meeting, which will be held at Strand Town Hall on Wednesday 5 June at 10:00.
In this election year for us and the US, we on the far southern tip of Africa are often astounded, maybe even mystified, by the “theatre” of US elections. But it is indisputable that the results have wide-ranging implications even for us. In time Clinton and Nelson Mandela developed a special rapport that augured well for South Africa.
So in 1992 it was gloves-off between Bush and Clinton.
In his talk Myburgh will describe how the relatively unknown Clinton, Governor of Arkansas, a small, poor, backward state, and himself from very humble beginnings, managed to unseat Bush, who had a long and distinguished political career, had been Vice-President to Ronald Reagan for eight years and had had a relatively successful first four-year term, with the Gulf War and end of the Cold War behind him.
Clinton, on the other hand, had no experience of national politics at all and faced the challenge of being unknown outside Arkansas. Against this background Clinton emerged from obscurity to become a viable presidential candidate. How can this turn of events be explained?
Was it the economic conditions, from which arose the famous statement and title of this talk “It’s the economy, stupid!”, the end of the Cold War and the fracturing of the Republican party, Bush’s reneging on his election promise of not raising tax? Or, was it the insight and charisma of Clinton, famous for telling the poorer members of the electorate “I feel your pain!”, his heralding in the era of “baby boomers” and the end of the “Greatest Generation”?
Interested individuals can look forward to what the speaker will reveal.
Myburgh commenced practising law at the Johannesburg Bar in 1972 and in 1986 became an advocate. He was appointed a judge of the then-Supreme Court in 1991 and in 1996 became judge president of the Labour Appeal Court.
He returned to private practice in 2001, and for the past 19 years has conducted a number of public enquiries related to banking matters and corporate governance. He also acts as a mediator and arbiter in disputes.
His hobby is to research historical topics and give talks based on his findings.
V U3A members are welcome free of charge; visitors are required to pay R20 at the door. For enquiries, call Denise Fourie on 072 211 1173.
