That was pre internet so they can't do it quite as blatantly as they did in '92. "THe worse economy since the great depression".....
That is exactly what they did. Every news broadcast began with them hyping a bad economy with video of people standing in unemployment lines, shuttered factory doors, and "out of business" signs, etc.
James Carville might as well have been directing the news for all the fluffing they were doing to that Clinton rat.