Simple answer. In1988 you'd just had 8 years of Ronald Reagan. You then had 4 years of Bush. That's 12 years of tearing down infrastructure and putting money in stupid places. You then had 8 years of relative sanity under Clinton, but that was then followed by 8 years of total insanity by Dubya, a man who drove America off numerous cliffs. When my wife (who is from Oregon) heard about waterboarding, rendition and warrantless wiretapping she cried her heart out on my shoulder and came very close to becoming a British citizen.