Behind the Oval Office
            
             President Clinton contacted Dick Morris, an associate of seventeen years, one month before the 1994 gubernatorial elections with one goal in mind, to win the 1996 presidential election. His intentions were to get Morris's help to win back the presidency and redefine his image as the Commander in Chief. With the notion of the permanent campaign, Clinton was able to gain back public appeal and win the 1996 election with ease.
             Recent history has shown that presidents can not only be brought down by their failures but by their successes as well. Although they may accomplish what they say they are going to, failures to initiate new programs and innovate cause voters to lose interest. This was where Dick Morris and the permanent campaign stepped in. Clinton employed Morris to figure out which way the public was going on issues and what they really wanted out of their president. What the majority of people wanted was change. The public wanted a president who acted like a president. The use of extensive polling helped Morris and Clinton determine the popular stances on issues, which arguments were more persuasive, and why certain voters liked or disliked the President. Clinton needed to get a clear idea of how he had gone wrong in the eyes of his public in order to get back on track with them. Polling was not used to tell the President what to do, but was a good gauge as to what the public felt was important for him to do and where they stood as a society.
             Clinton's easy win in 1996 was a result of his new definition of the job and the new substance that was added to his campaign. It was not the result of "spinning." Spinning refers to when consultants or "spin doctors" change the way in which their candidates and their positions on issues are presented. Substance is not created. Their views are merely twisted to change the public's perception of them. What Dic...