Score for this quiz: 30 out of 30
Submitted Dec 7 at 8am
This attempt took 1 minute.
Question 1
6 / 6 pts
Which of the following is true about Clinton in 1996?
He raised so much money over the course of 1995 so to discourage any fellow Democrat from
challenging him in the ’96 primaries. Clinton, then, became the first Democratic president since
FDR not to face a primary challenger.
He employed a “third way” strategy of “triangulation”—i.e. positioning himself in the center
between congressional Republicans and congressional Democrats, and attempting to transcend
the traditional left/right divides.
He offered little in the area of substance in his bid for reelection, preferring instead to use
empty “Building a Bridge to the 21st Century” rhetoric.
He did not aggressively promote Democratic candidates for Congress in 1996, focusing instead
on trying to secure over 50% of the popular vote in a three-way race.
All of the above
B & C only
Question 2
6 / 6 pts
What is divided government?
The division between federal and state policies.
A situation in which the party that controls the presidency does not control the Congress.
A situation in which the political parties cannot agree on anything.
Power-sharing between state and local entities.
None of the above
Question 3
6 / 6 pts
What helped Clinton solidify his lead over President George Bush by end of the summer 1992?
He tapped Senator Al Gore of Tennessee to being his running-mate, who like Clinton, was
young, a Southerner, Baptist, and centrist. He was also considered substantive and sharp contrast
to Bush’s gaffe prone Vice President, Dan Quayle.
Independent candidate Ross Perot temporarily withdrew from the race, and practically gave
Clinton and the Democrats an endorsement.
The Republican National Convention in August was dominated by social conservatives who
warned of a “culture war.”
All of the above
None of the above: Clinton's lead actually narrowed.
Question 4
6 / 6 pts
Which of the following is NOT true about Bill Clinton?
In 1978, he was elected governor of Arkansas at the age of 32. He was defeated in his bid for
reelection in 1980, and then in 1982, won election again as governor.
As Arkansas Governor in the 1980s, he turned his attention to national party leadership, leading
the Democratic Leadership Council—a centrist organization in the party formed in 1985 to help
Democrats relate more to middle class voters in presidential elections.
He taught Democrats that to win the presidency they had to unflinchingly embrace a
liberal agenda and sell that to voters.
He ran in the Democratic primaries as a centrist and remained a centrist in the fall—shattering
the convention wisdom that winning candidates had to run to the ideological edge in the
primaries and then move to the center in the general election campaign.
His presidency in the 1990s witnessed a “redivided government”—i.e. instead of divided
government characterized by a GOP lock on the presidency and a Democratic lock on Congress,
there was a flip in divided government to Democrats having a lock on the presidency and
Republicans on Congress.
Question 5
6 / 6 pts
Why did Democrats seemly have a lock on Congress in the late 20th century but not the
presidency?
Unlike the more homogenous GOP, the Democratic Party was raucously heterogeneous—so
diverse, in fact, that it could run Congressional candidates that were specifically suited to a
particular locale—with might be entirely different from a Democrat seeking election in another
part of the country.
Voters wanted their cake and to eat it too—i.e. they elected Democrats to Congress who
promised government programs they wanted but elected Republican presidents who promised to
keep taxes low.
During the Cold War, Republicans were perceived as being strong on national defense, whereas
Democrats played into GOP messaging by nominating presidential candidates who seemed
glaringly weak on national defense.
All of the above
A & C only
Quiz Score: 30 out of 30
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