re: why did George HW bush lose his reelection in 1992?

Ross Perot offered an anti-globalist alternative and garnered 18.9% of the popular vote. Only 43% of voters backed Clinton.

Also, Blue Dog Democrats were still a thing. My father, before his hard lurch to the right, had been a populist, New Orleans Democrat all his life and proudly voted for Clinton.

If you were to use the 1996-2016 theoretical electoral map, you could flip 66 easily from Clinton to GHWB, making the final count 304-234, roughly the same as Trump's win and far less of the blowout it appears.