One of the most enduring bits of folk wisdom about American politics is the notion that a promise made on the campaign trail is almost never a promise kept.
The only thing you can count on from a politician, and especially a presidential candidate, is that you can’t count on anything.
There is, in fact, a strong connection between what a candidate says on the campaign trail and what a president does in office.
In his 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton stressed jobs, unemployment, taxes and health care — encapsulated in his campaign’s refrain: “It’s the economy, stupid.” He followed through, in the first two years of his administration, with a proposed economic stimulus bill, a proposed health-care-reform bill and an upper-income tax increase.
George W. Bush, in his 2000 campaign, emphasized educational reform and tax cuts, and followed through in the first months of his administration with No Child Left Behind and a large, upper-income tax cut.
Persons:
Bill Clinton, George W, Bush