View source for 1992 Democratic National Convention

{{short description|Political convention}}
{{Infobox National Political Convention
| logo = 1992 DNC logo.jpg
| logo_size= 170px
| image           = DP1992.png
| image_size      = 125
| image2          = DV1992.png
| image_size2     = 125
| caption         = Nominees<br />Clinton and Gore
| year            = 1992
| party           = Democratic
| date            = July 13–16, 1992
| venue           = [[Madison Square Garden]]
| city            = [[New York City|New York]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| keynote_speaker = [[Zell Miller]], [[Barbara Jordan]], and [[Bill Bradley]]
| presidential_nominee      = [[Bill Clinton]] of [[Arkansas]]
| vice_presidential_nominee = [[Al Gore]] of [[Tennessee]]
| ballots         = 1
| totaldelegates  = 4,288
| votesneeded     = 2,145
| presidenttotals = [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] ([[Arkansas|AR]]): 3,372 (78.64%)<br />[[Jerry Brown|Brown]] ([[California|CA]]): 596 (13.90%)<br />[[Paul Tsongas|Tsongas]] ([[Massachusetts|MA]]): 209 (4.87%)<br />[[Robert P. Casey|Casey]] ([[Pennsylvania|PA]]): 10 (0.23%)<br />[[Patricia Schroeder|Schroeder]] ([[Colorado|CO]]): 8 (0.19%)<br />[[Larry Agran|Agran]] ([[California|CA]]): 3 (0.07%)<br />Others: 56 (1.31%)
| previous_year   = 1988
| next_year       = 1996
}}
The '''1992 Democratic National Convention''' nominated [[List of Governors of Arkansas|Governor]] [[Bill Clinton]] of [[Arkansas]] for [[President of the United States|president]] and [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Al Gore]] from [[Tennessee]] for [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]; Clinton announced Gore as his running-mate on July 9, 1992. The convention was held at [[Madison Square Garden]] in [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] from July 13 to July 16, 1992. The Clinton-Gore ticket then faced and defeated their Republican opponents, President [[George H. W. Bush]] and Vice President [[Dan Quayle]] as well as the independent ticket of [[Ross Perot]] and [[James Stockdale]] in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1992|1992 presidential election]].

The convention, organized by chairman [[Ron Brown]], was seen as a great success. Unlike some earlier Democratic conventions, it had been well planned and run with few gaffes or errors, as even Republicans conceded. As Clinton finished his acceptance speech [[Fleetwood Mac]]'s "[[Don't Stop (Fleetwood Mac song)|Don't Stop]]", which would become the [[theme song]] of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, was played several times during the balloon drop and celebration.

Clinton received a significant poll bounce from the convention, due to both the perceived success of the convention, as well as [[Ross Perot]] announcing he was withdrawing from the campaign just as the convention was ending (Perot got back into the race in October).

The [[convention bounce]] gave the Clinton/Gore ticket a lead that only shrank insignificantly when Ross Perot re-entered the race.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5DC113DF935A35753C1A964958260 | work=The New York Times | title=THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Poll; Poll Finds Hostility to Perot And No Basic Shift in Race | first=Robin | last=Toner | date=October 6, 1992 | access-date=April 20, 2010}}</ref> Clinton and Gore went on to defeat President Bush and Vice President Quayle, as well as Perot and Stockdale, in the general election.

==Party platform==
The party platform was more [[Centrism|centrist]] than recent preceding Democratic Party platforms had been, reflecting the new positioning of the party.<ref name="LOC1"/>

==Speakers==
New York Governor [[Mario Cuomo]] delivered the nominating speech for Clinton, hailing him as the "comeback kid" in reference to Clinton's comeback in the Democratic primaries after his campaign took a hit following a loss in the New Hampshire primary and media coverage of [[infidelity]] allegations.<ref name="LOC1">{{cite web |title=Democratic National Political Conventions 1832-2008 (Library of Congress) |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/polcon/democraticindex.html |website=www.loc.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=6 May 2023}}</ref>

Prominently featured as speakers during the convention were Democratic Party women. The convention's opening program placed a spotlight both on prominent female Democratic U.S. Senate nominees and women's issues.<ref name="LOC1"/>

Other notable speakers included [[Democratic National Committee]] Chair [[Ron Brown]] and [[Elizabeth Glaser]].

Former California Governor [[Jerry Brown]], who was still an active candidate with a large amount of delegates and had not withdrawn to support the clear nominee—thus not being given a speaker's spot by the convention organizers—addressed the convention to state his case for a "humility agenda" by seconding his own nomination.<ref>[https://www.c-span.org/video/?27116-1/gov-jerry-brown-1992-convention-remarks C-span.org]</ref>

===Keynote speakers===
In a departure from tradition, the convention featured three keynote speakers: [[Georgia Governor]] [[Zell Miller]], [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Bill Bradley]] and former [[United States House of Representatives|Representative]] [[Barbara Jordan]], who also served as a keynote speaker at the [[1976 Democratic National Convention]].<ref name="LOC1"/>

==Nomination votes==
[[File:Watch President Clinton Accept the Democratic Nomination (Full Speech).webm|thumb|Bill Clinton's acceptance speech]]
[[File:Madisonsquaregarden.jpg|thumb|Madison Square Garden, the site of the 1992 Democratic National Convention]]
[[File:Senator Barbara Mikulski standing with women senatorial candidates (left to right) Carol Moseley-Braun, Barbara Boxer, Senator Patty Murray and others at 1992 Democratic National Convention, Madison Square Garden, New York City.jpg|thumb|Senator [[Barbara Mikulski]] with female Senate candidates]]

===President===

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! colspan="3" | Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 1992<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Edward |title=CLINTON CELEBRATES DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION WITH UNCONVENTIONAL VICTORY WALK TO GARDEN |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/07/16/clinton-celebrates-democratic-nomination-with-unconventional-victory-walk-to-garden/948c6af4-7ff9-409d-a72e-080f98c5a184/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=August 13, 2023}}</ref>
|-
! style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! style="width: 5em" |Votes
! style="width: 7em" |Percentage
|-
|-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| '''[[Bill Clinton]]'''
| align="right" |  '''3372'''
| align="right" |  '''78.64%'''
|-
| [[Jerry Brown]]
| align="right" | 596
| align="right" | 13.90%
|-
| [[Paul Tsongas]]
| align="right" | 209
| align="right" |  4.87%
|-
|[[Robert P. Casey]]
| align="right" | 10
| align="right" |  0.23%
|-
| [[Pat Schroeder]] 
| align="right" | 8
| align="right" | 0.18%
|-
|[[Larry Agran]]
| align="right" | 3
| align="right" | 0.07%
|-
|[[Ronald Daniels (politician)|Ronald Daniels]]
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 0.02%
|-
| [[Al Gore]]
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 0.02%
|-
|Joe Simonetta
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 0.02%
|-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| align="right" | Abstentions
| align="right" | 53
| align="right" | 1.24% 
|-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| align="right" | '''Totals'''
| align="right" | '''4,288'''
| align="right" | '''100.00%'''
|}

===Vice president===
Gore was nominated by [[acclamation]] on a voice vote.

== Platform ==

=== Abortion ===
Expanding on previous support for [[reproductive rights]], the 1992 platform for the first time explicitly supported a national law to codify ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

==Casey controversy==<!-- This section is linked from [[1992 United States presidential election]] -->
[[Governor of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania Governor]] [[Robert P. Casey|Bob Casey]] wanted to speak at the convention, but ultimately did not. Casey maintained that he was denied a speaking spot because he intended to give a speech about his opposition to abortion, while the Clinton camp said that Casey did not speak because he had not endorsed the Clinton/Gore ticket.<ref name="crowley">Michael Crowley, "Casey Closed," The New Republic, September 16, 1996.</ref>  After the convention was over, Casey told the ''New York Times'', "I support the ticket. Period."<ref name="times">{{cite news |first=Michael Decourcy |last=Hinds |title=Pennsylvania; Democratic Ticket Heads Into Fertile Territory |newspaper=New York Times |date=July 19, 1992 |at=Section 1, Page 20 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/19/us/the-1992-campaign-pennsylvania-democratic-ticket-heads-into-fertile-territory.html }}</ref>  Other Democrats opposing abortions such as Chicago Mayor [[Richard M. Daley]], Senators [[John Breaux]] and [[Howell Heflin]], and five anti-abortion Democratic governors did speak.  While Democratic officials said that these speakers were not barred from discussing their opposition to abortion, they nonetheless did not address the issue in their speeches.<ref name="crowley"/>

Casey asked both DNC Chairman [[Ron Brown]] and [[Governor of Texas|Texas Governor]] [[Ann Richards]], the convention's chairwoman, for a speaking spot. Neither responded directly, and Casey later received a letter explaining that he would not receive a spot.<ref name="boyer">{{cite magazine|author=Peter J Boyer |title=The Right to Choose |magazine=The New Yorker |date=November 14, 2005 |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12600380_ITM |access-date=2012-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426171533/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/search/?q=THE%20RIGHT%20TO%20CHOOSE.(Robert%20Casey%2C%20Jr.%2C%20Pennsylvania%20politics) |archive-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Controversy regarding Casey's treatment at the 1992 Convention was frequently cited in media coverage of his son [[Bob Casey, Jr.]]'s successful 2006 Pennsylvania Senate campaign against Republican incumbent [[Rick Santorum]].<ref name="boyer" /><ref name="life faith">{{cite news | author=Alan Cooperman| title=Senate Candidate Speaks of Life, Faith| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=September 15, 2006| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401649.html| pages=A03}}</ref><ref name="hungry">{{cite journal | author=ROBIN TONER| title=To Democrats Hungry for Senate, a Pennsylvania Seat Looks Ripe| journal=The New York Times| date=March 5, 2006| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/politics/05penn.html?ex=1299214800&en=f068d29beeea5765&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign]]
*[[1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries]]
* [[1991 Libertarian National Convention]]
* [[1992 Republican National Convention]]
* [[1992 United States presidential election]]
* [[History of the United States Democratic Party]]
* [[List of Democratic National Conventions]]
*[[United States presidential nominating convention]]
*[[The Last Party (film)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29610 Democratic Party Platform of 1992] at ''The American Presidency Project''
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25958 Clinton Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC] (transcript) at ''The American Presidency Project''
* [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barbarajordan1992dnc.html Complete text and audio of Barbara Jordan's Keynote Address]
* [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/elizabethglaser1992dnc.htm Complete text and audio of Elizabeth Glaser's Address]
* [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/wjclinton1992dnc.htm Complete text and audio of William Jefferson Clinton's Acceptance Address]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/D/1992/index.html List of members from various state delegations to convention]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EXNrdzwB4M Video of Clinton nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC (via YouTube)]
* [http://convert2mp3.net/en/index.php?p=tags&id=youtube_8EXNrdzwB4M&key=OyPqd3zlmwI2 Audio of Clinton nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC]{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT-hlQ1iF6M Video of Gore nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC (via YouTube)]
* [http://convert2mp3.net/en/index.php?p=tags&id=youtube_zT-hlQ1iF6M&key=m0lqBtGNrA1L Audio of Gore nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC]{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-17-mn-3672-story.html Transcript of Gore nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N__W51hG6XI Video of Zell Miller's keynote address at Democratic National Convention]

{{Sequence|prev=[[1988 Democratic National Convention|1988]]<br />[[Atlanta, Georgia]]|list=[[Democratic National Convention]]s|next=[[1996 Democratic National Convention|1996]]<br />[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}

{{1992 United States presidential election}}
{{1992 United States elections}}
{{Democratic Party (United States)}}
{{Bill Clinton}}
{{Al Gore}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic National Convention, 1992}}
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