I was 18 in 1992 and didn’t want to fathom the country electing my odious Senator as VP and the creepy philanderer from across Big Muddy as President. You can obviously attest to the fact it was one of the worst-run campaigns for reelection. In hindsight, it’s almost as though he just didn’t want to win. If that was the case, he should’ve stepped down and had someone else step in (though probably not Quayle).
With respect to the statement of Perot taking more votes from Bush, the question is whether how many of them ultimately would’ve voted for him in a two-person race. I think enough would’ve not voted for him (as in not voting or just voting downballot), or voted for Bubba in a fit of pique for my above scenario to play out. IIRC, after Perot first pulled out (when it appeared he was in first place, and frankly, I don’t think he wanted to be President), that’s about when Clinton went ahead in the polls and never lost his lead.
As for the Rodney King debacle, I almost ended up in the middle of it. I was on a long cross-country business trip with my parents this time 20 years ago in California. We were in San Diego for about a week and went to Tijuana for the day (4/29/92). It wasn’t until late in the evening we learned what happened. If we left a day earlier, our next destination was Los Angeles, and we would’ve been driving right through the middle of the fun zone when the $hit hit the fan. Scary stuff.
I’d go so far as to say that from a cultural standpoint, the Rodney King thing was the “end” of the Reagan 1980s and marked the beginning of the national deterioration that has never really abated since (although I’d trace its actual start to around 1963-65, Reagan gave us a decade-long reprieve).
You’re right, a lot of the kids who claimed to be for Perot switched to Clinton after Perot dropped out the first time (citing “Republican dirty tricks”). But that’s the point, they had already switched to Clinton. Had Perot not been on the ballot in November, no way would half of the 19% that ended up voting for Perot have voted for Clinton; I’d guess that over half of Perot voters who told exit pollsters that Clinton was their second choice would have stayed home had Perot not been on the ballot.
Well, my son, I'll say this for you: you are a more logical writer than my child who was also 18 in 1992!