5. Perot Makes an Impression
The year 1992 featured an anomaly for presidential debates: a three-way debate. Candidates involved included incumbent President George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot. Running as an Independent, Perot was critical both of Bush for violating his pledge to not raise taxes and of Clinton for his support of NAFTA. In a debate on October 15, he described the “giant sucking sound” NAFTA would create by transferring American jobs into Mexico. Despite winning zero states and zero electoral votes, Perot received 19% of the popular vote, which is the largest percentage of the popular vote won by a third party candidate since Theodore Roosevelt ran as a Bull Moose in 1912. And unless Gary Johnson can get into either of the other two presidential debates in 2016, 1992 might be the most recent election year that featured a three-way debate.
