Bush 1 cost himself the election. It's not hard to see that the apple didn't fall far from the tree here. The main difference is Bush already had the Iran Contra scandal, no war or real enemy at the time since the Berlin wall fell and the Soviet Union was also in the toilet, and a recession that makes the one at the end of the Clinto years look like a minor banking mistake.

Ross Perot wasn't taken seriously by anyone and his own choice for VP pretty much sealed the deal by looking like a fish out of water at the debates. I never expected that from a retired Admiral.