Presidential Election Debates: Bush 41 vs. Dukakis (1988)
One of my beliefs is that presidential election debates and running mate selections make very little difference in the outcome of a election. The 1988 contest tends to support that theory, given that one of the most memorable debate moments took place in that contest, not in the debates between the presidential candidates, but in the lone debate between their running mates.
That year there was no incumbent running for president, though Republicans chose incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush as their candidate, and he ran on what many considered to be a third term for Ronald Reagan, even though Reagan was ineligible to seek a third term. Democrats chose Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis as their candidate. The election would become the first since 1940 in which the same party won the presidency three consecutive times in a row. It has not happened since.
Bush entered the Republican primaries as the front-runner, defeating U.S. Senator Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson to win the nomination. He selected 41 year old Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate. Dukakis won the Democratic primaries after Democratic leaders such as Gary Hart and Ted Kennedy withdrew or declined to run. He selected the much older and much more experienced Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his running mate. Bush ran an aggressive campaign which focused on the economy, the problem of urban crime, and continuing Reagan's policies. He attacked Dukakis for being a "Massachusetts liberal". Dukakis enjoyed an early lead in the polls and was later considered to have made the same mistake that Thomas Dewey had made in 1948 of being too cautious with that lead, rather than fighting back strongly enough against the attacks made against him.
That year the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a bipartisan organization which had been recently formed in 1987, organized two debates among the major presidential candidates and one vice-presidential debates. Only Bush and Dukakis met the criteria for inclusion in the debates, and thus were the only two to appear in the debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The CPD-sponsored vice presidential debate took place between Quayle and Bentsen.
The First presidential debate was held in the Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University on Sunday September 25, 1988. Over 65 million viewers tuned in to the debate. Jim Lehrer of PBS moderated the debate with John Mashek of Atlanta Constitution, Peter Jennings of ABC, and Anne Groer of Orlando Sentinel as panelists. Questions divided between foreign and domestic policy. Voters were split as to who won the first presidential debate according to subsequent polls.
The Bush campaign took another hit in the vice-presidential debate, which was held in the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska on Wednesday, October 5, 1988. An estimated 46.9 million viewers tuned into the debate. Judy Woodruff of PBS moderated the debate with Tom Brokaw of NBC, Jon Margolis of Chicago Tribune, and Brit Hume of ABC. Judy Woodruff began a question by addressing the audience. She said: "Based on the history since World War II, there is almost a 50–50 chance that one of the two men here tonight will become President of the United States" referring to the probability that the man elected vice president would later become president, either by succession or by a presidential bid. She followed up with a question about the qualifications of each candidate. In Quayle's response to Woodruff's question he stated "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." Bentsen's retort made headlines the following day when he then responded to Quayle by stating: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." The remark was met with shouts and applause.
Quayle had routinely been comparing himself to Kennedy in his stump speeches in terms of their comparable length of Congressional service. Quayle had served for 12 years while Kennedy served for 14. When Kennedy successfully sought the Democratic nomination in 1960, he had less experience than his primary opponents, most of whom had more seniority in the Senate. Despite the correctness of the statement, Quayle's advisors had suggested that he not make this comparison, but Quayle disagreed.
Quayle responded ineffectively. He said, "That was really uncalled for, Senator," to which Bentsen responded, "You are the one that was making the comparison, Senator, and I'm one who knew him well. And frankly I think you are so far apart in the objectives you choose for your country that I did not think the comparison was well-taken." Here is a video of that exchange:
Democrats replayed Quayle's reaction to Bentsen's comment in subsequent ads as an announcer intoned, "Quayle: just a heartbeat away." Despite this, the remark did not reduce Bush's lead in the polls. Bentsen's zinger line overshadowed his attempts to defend Dukakis from attacks that the man at the top of the Democratic ticket was too liberal. Greater attention was given the Kennedy comparison than to Bentsen's defense of Dukakis.
The second and final presidential debate was held on October 13, 1988 at the Pauley Pavillion at University of California in Los Angeles, California. Bernard Shaw of CNN moderated the debate with Andrea Mitchell of NBC, Ann Compton of ABC, Margaret Warner of Newsweek as panelists. About 67.3 million viewers watched the debate. It turned out to be a good night for Bush, and a bad night for Dukakis. Dukakis had been suffering from the flu and spent much of the day in bed.
The headline grabbing moment of the debate occurred when moderator Bernard Shaw opened the debate by asking Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if Kitty Dukakis, his wife, were raped and murdered. Dukakis answered "no". He went on to discuss the statistical ineffectiveness of capital punishment, but expressed little emotion about the lead-in to the question. Many commentators thought the question was unfair for injecting an overly emotional element into the discussion of a policy issue. But what was most remembered was how Dukakis's answer seemed to lack the normal emotions one would expect of a person talking about a loved one's rape and murder. The response played in to the Bush campaign's portrayal of Dukakis as someone who was intellectually cold. Here is a video of that exchange:
The next night, Tom Brokaw of NBC reported on his October 14 newscast, "The consensus tonight is that Vice President George Bush won last night's debate and has made it all the harder for Governor Michael Dukakis to catch and pass him in the 25 days remaining. A consensus among pundits was that Dukakis failed to seize the debate and the momentum.
The poor answer given by Dukakis dovetailed with the Republicans' attack ads against the Democratic candidate, including two commercials known as "Revolving Door" and "Weekend Passes"/aka "Willie Horton", that portrayed Dukakis as "soft on crime". Dukakis was a strong supporter of Massachusetts's prison furlough program, which had begun before he was governor. As governor, Dukakis vetoed a 1976 plan to bar inmates convicted of first-degree murder from the furlough program. In 1986, the program had resulted in the release of convicted murderer Willie Horton, an African American man who committed a rape and assault in Maryland while out on furlough.
In the November 8 election, Bush won a majority of the popular vote and the Electoral College. His popular vote percentage was 53.4%. He won 426 electoral votes and 40 states. Dukakis won 45.65% of the popular vote and 111 electoral votes. Bush was the last candidate to receive an absolute majority of the popular vote until his son George W. Bush did in 2004.
That year there was no incumbent running for president, though Republicans chose incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush as their candidate, and he ran on what many considered to be a third term for Ronald Reagan, even though Reagan was ineligible to seek a third term. Democrats chose Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis as their candidate. The election would become the first since 1940 in which the same party won the presidency three consecutive times in a row. It has not happened since.
Bush entered the Republican primaries as the front-runner, defeating U.S. Senator Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson to win the nomination. He selected 41 year old Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate. Dukakis won the Democratic primaries after Democratic leaders such as Gary Hart and Ted Kennedy withdrew or declined to run. He selected the much older and much more experienced Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his running mate. Bush ran an aggressive campaign which focused on the economy, the problem of urban crime, and continuing Reagan's policies. He attacked Dukakis for being a "Massachusetts liberal". Dukakis enjoyed an early lead in the polls and was later considered to have made the same mistake that Thomas Dewey had made in 1948 of being too cautious with that lead, rather than fighting back strongly enough against the attacks made against him.
That year the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a bipartisan organization which had been recently formed in 1987, organized two debates among the major presidential candidates and one vice-presidential debates. Only Bush and Dukakis met the criteria for inclusion in the debates, and thus were the only two to appear in the debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The CPD-sponsored vice presidential debate took place between Quayle and Bentsen.
The First presidential debate was held in the Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University on Sunday September 25, 1988. Over 65 million viewers tuned in to the debate. Jim Lehrer of PBS moderated the debate with John Mashek of Atlanta Constitution, Peter Jennings of ABC, and Anne Groer of Orlando Sentinel as panelists. Questions divided between foreign and domestic policy. Voters were split as to who won the first presidential debate according to subsequent polls.
The Bush campaign took another hit in the vice-presidential debate, which was held in the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska on Wednesday, October 5, 1988. An estimated 46.9 million viewers tuned into the debate. Judy Woodruff of PBS moderated the debate with Tom Brokaw of NBC, Jon Margolis of Chicago Tribune, and Brit Hume of ABC. Judy Woodruff began a question by addressing the audience. She said: "Based on the history since World War II, there is almost a 50–50 chance that one of the two men here tonight will become President of the United States" referring to the probability that the man elected vice president would later become president, either by succession or by a presidential bid. She followed up with a question about the qualifications of each candidate. In Quayle's response to Woodruff's question he stated "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." Bentsen's retort made headlines the following day when he then responded to Quayle by stating: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." The remark was met with shouts and applause.
Quayle had routinely been comparing himself to Kennedy in his stump speeches in terms of their comparable length of Congressional service. Quayle had served for 12 years while Kennedy served for 14. When Kennedy successfully sought the Democratic nomination in 1960, he had less experience than his primary opponents, most of whom had more seniority in the Senate. Despite the correctness of the statement, Quayle's advisors had suggested that he not make this comparison, but Quayle disagreed.
Quayle responded ineffectively. He said, "That was really uncalled for, Senator," to which Bentsen responded, "You are the one that was making the comparison, Senator, and I'm one who knew him well. And frankly I think you are so far apart in the objectives you choose for your country that I did not think the comparison was well-taken." Here is a video of that exchange:
Democrats replayed Quayle's reaction to Bentsen's comment in subsequent ads as an announcer intoned, "Quayle: just a heartbeat away." Despite this, the remark did not reduce Bush's lead in the polls. Bentsen's zinger line overshadowed his attempts to defend Dukakis from attacks that the man at the top of the Democratic ticket was too liberal. Greater attention was given the Kennedy comparison than to Bentsen's defense of Dukakis.
The second and final presidential debate was held on October 13, 1988 at the Pauley Pavillion at University of California in Los Angeles, California. Bernard Shaw of CNN moderated the debate with Andrea Mitchell of NBC, Ann Compton of ABC, Margaret Warner of Newsweek as panelists. About 67.3 million viewers watched the debate. It turned out to be a good night for Bush, and a bad night for Dukakis. Dukakis had been suffering from the flu and spent much of the day in bed.
The headline grabbing moment of the debate occurred when moderator Bernard Shaw opened the debate by asking Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if Kitty Dukakis, his wife, were raped and murdered. Dukakis answered "no". He went on to discuss the statistical ineffectiveness of capital punishment, but expressed little emotion about the lead-in to the question. Many commentators thought the question was unfair for injecting an overly emotional element into the discussion of a policy issue. But what was most remembered was how Dukakis's answer seemed to lack the normal emotions one would expect of a person talking about a loved one's rape and murder. The response played in to the Bush campaign's portrayal of Dukakis as someone who was intellectually cold. Here is a video of that exchange:
The next night, Tom Brokaw of NBC reported on his October 14 newscast, "The consensus tonight is that Vice President George Bush won last night's debate and has made it all the harder for Governor Michael Dukakis to catch and pass him in the 25 days remaining. A consensus among pundits was that Dukakis failed to seize the debate and the momentum.
The poor answer given by Dukakis dovetailed with the Republicans' attack ads against the Democratic candidate, including two commercials known as "Revolving Door" and "Weekend Passes"/aka "Willie Horton", that portrayed Dukakis as "soft on crime". Dukakis was a strong supporter of Massachusetts's prison furlough program, which had begun before he was governor. As governor, Dukakis vetoed a 1976 plan to bar inmates convicted of first-degree murder from the furlough program. In 1986, the program had resulted in the release of convicted murderer Willie Horton, an African American man who committed a rape and assault in Maryland while out on furlough.
In the November 8 election, Bush won a majority of the popular vote and the Electoral College. His popular vote percentage was 53.4%. He won 426 electoral votes and 40 states. Dukakis won 45.65% of the popular vote and 111 electoral votes. Bush was the last candidate to receive an absolute majority of the popular vote until his son George W. Bush did in 2004.