Reply #9: I remember Paul Tsongas did well at first.

[Julien Sorel]

I think he won New Hampshire, and then Clinton just out campaigned him. Politically, Tsongas and Clinton were pretty similar, both pro-business social liberals, but Clinton was the consumate campaigner.

Political junkies knew who Clinton was in 1991, because he was the keynote speaker at the Democratic convention in 1988. There had been a low buzz about him for years by 1991; in particular, journalists loved him, and couldn't stop talking about him among themselves. He didn't really come out of nowhere, as I recall.