After the convention , Clinton and Gore began a bus tour around the United States , while the Bush/Quayle campaign began to criticize Clinton 's character , highlighting accusations of infidelity and draft dodging . The Bush campaign emphasized its foreign policy successes such as Desert Storm , and the end of the Cold War . Bush also contrasted his military service to Clinton 's lack thereof , and criticized Clinton 's lack of foreign policy expertise . However , as the economy was the main issue , Bush 's campaign floundered across the nation , even in strongly Republican areas , and Clinton maintained leads with over 50 percent of the vote nationwide consistently , while Bush typically saw numbers in the upper 30s . As Bush 's economic edge had evaporated , his campaign looked to energize its socially conservative base at the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston , Texas . At the Convention , Bush 's primary campaign opponent Pat Buchanan gave his famous " culture war " speech , criticizing Clinton 's and Gore 's social progressiveness , and voicing skepticism on his " New Democrat " brand . After President Bush accepted his renomination , his campaign saw a small bounce in the polls , but this was short lived , as Clinton maintained his lead . The campaign continued with a lopsided lead for Clinton through September , until Ross Perot decided to re-enter the race . Ross Perot 's re-entry in the race was welcome by the Bush campaign , as Fred Steeper , a poll taker for Bush , said , " He 'll be important if we accomplish our goal , which is to draw even with Clinton . " Initially , Perot 's return saw the Texas billionaire 's numbers stay low , until he was given the opportunity to participate in a trio of unprecedented three-man debates . The race narrowed , as Perot 's numbers significantly improved as Clinton 's numbers declined , while Bush 's numbers remained more or less the same from earlier in the race as Perot and Bush began to hammer at Clinton on character issues once again
1992 Republican National Convention
1992 Republican National Convention
1992 United States presidential election