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I don't think Bush could have won. I was 9 when this election and this is the first election that I was old enough to remember.
Bill Clinton had much better energy than George HW Bush. Clinton was 45-46 during the 1992 election cycle and Bush was 67-68. Most 45-46 year olds are more energetic than 67-68 year olds. A similar thing happened in 2008 with 46-47 year old Obama going up against 71-72 year old McCain.
The early 1990s recession is what ended any hopes of a Bush re-election. The incumbent parties always get blamed for bad economic conditions at the times of election. It happened in 1980, 1992, 2000 (the early stages of the dot com bust), and 2008. The early 1990s recession was a joke though compared to future recessions. I graduated from my MBA program in the 2007-08 school year, the WORST YEAR in history to be a new MBA graduate. I felt 2008 immensely. However, at the time, people were displeased with the early 1990s recession.
Bush didn't keep his campaign promise of "Read My Lips, No New Taxes".
Bush as Commander in Chief failed to have the US military get a corpse for Saddam Hussein in the Persian Gulf War.
Clinton won because it WAS "the economy, Stupid", after Reagan had denied in debate with Carter that there was anything wrong with the economy, then back-pedaling in the Presidency, sheepishly acknowledging that there were serious problems with the economy. He then proceeded to make the problems even worse, and hand them down to his successors.
I thought George Bush wasn't for the military. How much people died in the Gulf War? Not as much as the Vietnam war, but enough to make a dent that families felt the hurt after their son or daughter didn't come back. Well maybe not daughter then, but son. Ronald Reagan was for the military. But he was an actor. So the trouble politically during 1980s and Guantanamo bay, Cuba have existed after Ronald Reagan got elected. The military during that time was in high demand. Though no draft for the military was ever implemented during the Reagan years.
Bush had a great deal of foresight. He realized the problems that might result if Hussein was deposed as the leader in Iraq. He understood the USA would end up administering Iraq and that it would be a difficult job. That is why he ordered his generals to stop once Hussein's army had been pushed out of Kuwait. Unfortunately, his son didn't have the same ability and the second war in Iraq was costly in terms of money and human lives for this country.
Regarding MarkG's post above, Bush I was also limited by the fact that the other leaders in the coalition had joined to drive the Iraqi army from Kuwait and to liberate it, not to overthrow Saddam Hussein. If Bush had ordered US forces into Iraq on a mission of regime change, the other forces would not have followed.
What Bush did do after Kuwait was liberated was broadcast propaganda into Iraq calling for a revolt against Saddam Hussein. The goal was to get the Iraqi Army to depose Hussein via military coup. Instead, the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq rose up in a people's revolt, expecting the US forces to support them. Instead, the US sat on the side lines and the Iraqi Army under Hussein crushed the Marsh Arabs. In hindsight, the call for Hussein's overthrow was a humanitarian failure.
Getting a corpse is essential to a war effort. Hitler and Mussolini were killed as a result of World War II. World War II was more successful than the Persian Gulf War but not entirely successful. World War II was ended too soon. General MacArthur was correct that there were still issues in Asia that justified an ongoing war.
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