WASHINGTON — When the 1996 presidential campaign approached, Bill Clinton faced an uphill struggle to win a second term. His biggest legislative proposal, a sweeping health care bill, had failed. His party had lost the House of Representatives to Republicans led by a fiery conservative, Newt Gingrich. Clinton's poll ratings were sagging.
So he tacked toward the center. He battled Gingrich to a standstill over GOP plans to cut spending on Medicare. He championed modest but popular proposals such as the V-chip, a device to help parents control what their children watch on television. And on Election Day, he defeated Republican candidate Bob Dole by a whopping 8% margin.
In 2012, Barack Obama's campaign for a second term started out in deep trouble too. Voters were unhappy about the economy's way-too-slow recovery from the Great Recession. The president's health care law, derisively called "Obamacare," was deeply unpopular. The House was back in Republican hands, with radical tea party members demanding big budget cuts.
