U.S. presidential election, 1988

The U.S. presidential election of 1988 featured an open primary for both major parties. Ronald Reagan, the incumbent President, was vacating the position after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-Second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the Democrats nominated Michael Dukakis, governor of Massachusetts. Bush capitalized on Reagan's popularity while Dukakis's campaign suffered from several miscues; the result was the third lopsided Republican victory in as many presidential elections.

General election

Campaign

During the election, the Bush campaign sought to portray Gov. Dukakis as unreasonably liberal and left wing. Dukakis was attacked for such positions as opposing mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, as well as being a "card carrying member of the ACLU" (a statement made by Dukakis concerning himself early in the primary campaign). Dukakis countered by saying that he was a "proud liberal" and that the phrase should stop being a bad word in America. The Dukakis camp tried to tie Bush to some of the recent scandals of the Reagan Administration, such as Iran-Contra, and argued that Republicans were too hawkish on foreign policy.

Related Topics:
Left wing - Pledge of Allegiance - ACLU - Iran-Contra

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Governor Dukakis attempted to quell criticism that he was ignorant on military matters by staging a photo op in which he drove a tank around a field. The move ended up being a massive PR blunder, with many mocking Dukakis' Snoopy-like appearance as he stuck his smiling, helmeted head out of the tank's entrance portal to wave to the crowd.

Related Topics:
Photo op - Tank - Snoopy

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The most memorable moment of the presidential debates came when Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered. He replied with a mechanical denunciation of capital punishment, which seemed unfeeling to some, although others considered the question unfair.

Related Topics:
Bernard Shaw - Death penalty

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Bush's running mate pick was Senator Dan Quayle. Quayle was young and athletic, and Bush had specifically chosen him to appeal to a younger generation of Americans. Quayle was not a seasoned politician, however, and had a continual habit of making embarrassing statements. The Dukakis team in return blasted Quayle's credentials, saying he was dangerously inexperienced to be second-in-line to the presidency. During the Vice Presidential debate, Quayle attempted to dispel such allegations, by comparing his experience with that of former president John F. Kennedy, who had also been a young political rookie when running for the presidency. Quayle stated, "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." This prompted Dukakis' running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, to respond, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_222.html

Related Topics:
Dan Quayle - John F. Kennedy - Lloyd Bentsen

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Other aspects of the campaign which were widely commented on included the Republican "Willie Horton" and "Boston Harbor" campaign ads, and Dukakis staff member Donna Brazile's resignation after her comments about rumors of a Bush affair.

Related Topics:
Willie Horton - Boston Harbor - Donna Brazile

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Results

Although at one point he was 17 percentage points behind Dukakis in the opinion polls, Bush received favorable reviews for his convention speech and from that point forward his position grew continuously stronger, in the end resulting in a decisive majority for Bush in the popular vote and a lopsided majority (40 states) in the Electoral College.

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The election was held on November 8, 1988.

Related Topics:
November 8 - 1988

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Source (Popular Vote): {{Leip PV source 2| year=1988| as of=August 7, 2005}}

Related Topics:
August 7 - 2005

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Source (Electoral Vote): {{National Archives EV source| year=1988| as of=August 7, 2005}}

Related Topics:
August 7 - 2005

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(a) A West Virginia elector voted for Bentsen as President and Dukakis as Vice President in order to make a statement against the U.S. Electoral College.

Related Topics:
West Virginia - U.S. Electoral College

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