1992 election: https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1992

This article gives a great overview of the 1992 election and emphasizes several important points we’ve covered in class.  Bill Clinton (Democrat) defeated George HW Bush (Republican incumbent), as well as Ross Perot (third party independent candidate).  While Clinton won the electoral college fairly handily (370 electors against 168 for Bush and 0 for Perot), this election was notable for the popularity of third-party candidate Ross Perot.  Despite clearly winning a majority of electors, Clinton only won 43% of the popular vote (compared to Bush’s 37.4% and Perot’s 18.9%).  Some may argue these election results reinforce support for the electoral college – in the event a Presidential candidate only garners a plurality of the popular vote (and not a majority), the electoral college provides a method of measurement that lends a majority of support to a candidate.  While this election method may reinforce a two-party system, and prevent third-party candidates from having a viable chance at winning the Presidency, there may be value in maintaining a system that prevents a candidate from winning election based on a mere plurality of the popular electorate.