Past Campaigns: The 1988 Democratic Party Race
In 1988 President Ronald Reagan was coming to the end of his second term in office. Initially a popular president, Reagan's popularity was beginning to fade in the wake of the Iran-Contra scandal, and its accompanying allegations that Reagan was in the early stages of senility and had been so during his presidency. Many were also concerned about the increase in the size of the national debt and deficits during the Reagan administration. Reagan was still quite popular because he had led the nation out of a time of high interest rates and it was on his watch that the power of the Soviet Union was in decline. But many in the Democratic Party believed that the time was right to take back the White House after eight consecutive years of Republican Control and after the GOP had held the presidency for 16 years in the past two decades.
In 1984 the Democrats had nominated Walter Mondale, an old-school liberal as their candidate. Mondale was defeated by Reagan in a landslide, and many in the party believed that they needed a different kind of candidate to avoid the results of the past two elections. Democrats won back control of the Senate in the 1986 congressional elections following an economic downturn, and the party's leaders felt more optimistic about their chances for victory in 1988.
Some in the party tried to recruit New York Governor, Mario Cuomo, to be their candidate. Cuomo had given an impressive keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention, and many Democrats believed that he would be a strong candidate. When Cuomo decided not to run and as a result, the Democratic frontrunner for most of 1987 was former Colorado Senator Gary Hart. He had made a strong showing in the 1984 presidential primaries and, after Mondale's defeat, he was seen by many as the type of moderate centrist that Democrats felt their party needed to win in 1988.
Rumors about possible extramarital affairs began to circulate about Hart and this adversely affected his campaign. When a reporter from The New York Times who questioned him about these rumors, he told them that if they followed him around, they would be bored. A Miami Herald reporter received an anonymous tip from a friend of Donna Rice, a woman that was involved with Hart. When the Herald learned of Hart's affair with Rice and publicized it, Hart's ratings in the polls took a nose dive. On May 8, 1987, a week after the Donna Rice story broke, Hart dropped out of the race. His campaign chair, Colorado Representative Patricia Schroeder, considered her own campaign run for about four months after Hart left the race, but in September 1987 she decided that she would not run. In December 1987, Hart surprised many political pundits by resuming his presidential campaign. But he never recovered from the allegations of adultery and he did poorly in the primaries before dropping out again.
Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts was considered a potential candidate, but he declined to run. Rumors of his alcoholism and memories of the Chappaquiddick incident combined to make his candidacy less attractive. Two other possibilities, both from Arkansas, were Senator Dale Bumpers and Governor (and future President) Bill Clinton. Both decided against running.
Senator Joe Biden of Delaware was a candidate, but his campaign ended in controversy after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Biden had credited the original author in all speeches but one, and that speech happened to be caught on video. The mistake was exploited by the campaign team of Michael Dukakis. It caused Biden to drop out of the race. Dukakis later admitteded that his campaign was responsible for leaking the tape, and two members of his staff resigned.
This left the stronge4st candidates being Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, Senator Al Gore from Tennessee, Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, Representative Dick Gephardt of Missouri and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. After Hart withdrew there really was no clear frontrunner before the primaries and caucuses began. Gephardt won the Iowa caucuses with Simon finishing a surprising second, and Dukakis in third. In the New Hampshire primary, Dukakis came in first place, Gephardt placed second, and Simon came in third. Both Dukakis and Gore ran negative television ads against Gephardt, causing the United Auto Workers to withdraw their endorsement of Gephardt. This hurt his campaign because he relied heavily on the support of labor unions.
On Super Tuesday, Dukakis won six primaries, Gore and Jackson won five and Gephardt won just one. Gore and Jackson split the Southern states. The next week, Simon won Illinois with Jesse Jackson finishing second. 1988 is the election in which the most candidates won at least one primary. Jackson won 11 contests: seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont). After he won the Michigan caucus he had more pledged delegates than all the other candidates. But Jackson's campaign suffered a significant setback less than two weeks later when he was in the Wisconsin primary by Dukakis. Dukakis followed up with wins in New York and then in Pennsylvania, putting Dukakis solidly in the lead going into the Convention. Jackson was hurt by reports that he had criticized Jews in New York, calling the city "Hymie Town".
The Democratic Party Convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia from July 18–21. Bill Clinton placed Dukakis's name in nomination, but the nominating speech lasted for so long that some delegates began booing to get him to finish. Delegates cheered loudly when Clinton said, "In closing". The most memorable line from the Convention came from Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards (who was elected the state governor in 1990), when she said of President George H. W. Bush, "Poor George [H.W. Bush], he can't help it, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
Dukakis won the nomination on the fist ballot with 2,876.25 votes. Jackson finished second with 1,218.5 votes. Jackson's supporters argued that since their candidate had finished in second place, he was entitled to the vice-presidential spot on the ticket. But Dukakis disagreed, and instead selected Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas. Bentsen's selection led many in the media to compare the ticket to the more famous pairing of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson in the 1960 presidential campaign.
During the election, the Bush campaign sought to portray Governor Dukakis as a "Massachusetts liberal" who was too far to the left. Dukakis was attacked for such things as opposing mandatory recital of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, and of being a "card-carrying member of the ACLU" (something Dukakis proudly admitted during the primaries). Dukakis embraced these criticisms, calling himself a "proud liberal". He said that Liberal should not be considered to be a bad word
The Dukakis campaign tried to tie Bush to some of the recent scandals of the Reagan administration, such as Iran-Contra affair. They also attempted to quash criticism that their man was ignorant on military matters by staging a photo op in which he rode in an M1 Abrams tank outside a General Dynamics plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The move ended up being a massive P. R. blunder. Many in the media mocked Dukakis's goofy appearance as his smiling helmeted head out stuck one of the tank's hatches to wave to the crowd. Footage of this was used by the Bush campaign to portray Dukakis as being clueless on military issues.
Bush had chosen Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate in order to appeal to a younger generation of Americans. But Quayle was not a seasoned politician, and made a number of embarrassing statements. The Dukakis team made an issue of Quayle's gaffes, saying he was dangerously inexperienced to be first-in-line to the presidency. During the Vice Presidential debate, Quayle attempted to meet these allegations by comparing his experience with that of former Senator John F. Kennedy, who had also been a young political rookie when running for the presidency. Quayle said, "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." Dukakis's running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, responded with the famous line: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." Quayle responded, "That was really uncalled for, Senator" but it din not undo thedamage. Democrats ran subsequent television ads as an announcer intoned, "Quayle: just a heartbeat away." This is perhaps one of the best examples of proof of the adage that the number two spot on the ticket does not decide elections. Despite much press about the incident, this did not reduce the Bush-Quayle lead in the polls.
The campaign was not without its sleezy side. During the course of the campaign, Dukakis fired his deputy field director Donna Brazile after she spread rumors that Bush had an affair with his assistant Jennifer Fitzgerald. A number of false rumors about Dukakis were reported in the media, including the claim by Idaho Republican Senator Steve Symms that Dukakis's wife Kitty had burned an American flag to protest the Vietnam War, as well as the claim that Dukakis himself had been treated for a mental illness. Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater was accused of having floated these rumors.
Dukakis was badly hurt by a series of Republican television ads, including ones entitled "Willie Horton", "Revolving Door", and "Boston Harbor". Dukakis was a supporter of a state prison furlough program, which had begun before he was governor. The program had resulted in the release on furlough of convicted murderer Willie Horton, who then committed a rape and assault in Maryland. As Governor, Dukakis had vetoed a 1976 plan to bar inmates convicted of first-degree murder from the furlough program. The program was abolished by the state legislature in April 1988 after public outcry over the Willie Horton case.
Although Dukakis did well in the first presidential debate, Bush seemed to score a triumph in the second debate, with a Gallup Poll giving him a 49–43 lead. Before the second debate, Dukakis had been suffering from the flu and spent much of the day in bed. His performance was poor because of this. The most memorable moment came when CNN anchor Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered. Dukakis's answer discussed the statistical ineffectiveness of capital punishment. Many felt Dukakis's answer lacked the normal emotions one would expect of a person asked about a loved one's rape and death.
The results on election day matched expectations from the polls. Bush received 48,886,597 votes (53.37%) which translated into 426 electoral votes. Dukakis finished second with 41,809,476 votes (45.65%) and 111 electoral votes. In the election Bush was the last Republican thus far to win certain states which are now termed "blue states" because they have not been won a Republican since. These states are Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, and California. Neither his victory percentage (53.4%) nor his total electoral votes (426) have been surpassed in any subsequent presidential election.
In 1984 the Democrats had nominated Walter Mondale, an old-school liberal as their candidate. Mondale was defeated by Reagan in a landslide, and many in the party believed that they needed a different kind of candidate to avoid the results of the past two elections. Democrats won back control of the Senate in the 1986 congressional elections following an economic downturn, and the party's leaders felt more optimistic about their chances for victory in 1988.
Some in the party tried to recruit New York Governor, Mario Cuomo, to be their candidate. Cuomo had given an impressive keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention, and many Democrats believed that he would be a strong candidate. When Cuomo decided not to run and as a result, the Democratic frontrunner for most of 1987 was former Colorado Senator Gary Hart. He had made a strong showing in the 1984 presidential primaries and, after Mondale's defeat, he was seen by many as the type of moderate centrist that Democrats felt their party needed to win in 1988.
Rumors about possible extramarital affairs began to circulate about Hart and this adversely affected his campaign. When a reporter from The New York Times who questioned him about these rumors, he told them that if they followed him around, they would be bored. A Miami Herald reporter received an anonymous tip from a friend of Donna Rice, a woman that was involved with Hart. When the Herald learned of Hart's affair with Rice and publicized it, Hart's ratings in the polls took a nose dive. On May 8, 1987, a week after the Donna Rice story broke, Hart dropped out of the race. His campaign chair, Colorado Representative Patricia Schroeder, considered her own campaign run for about four months after Hart left the race, but in September 1987 she decided that she would not run. In December 1987, Hart surprised many political pundits by resuming his presidential campaign. But he never recovered from the allegations of adultery and he did poorly in the primaries before dropping out again.
Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts was considered a potential candidate, but he declined to run. Rumors of his alcoholism and memories of the Chappaquiddick incident combined to make his candidacy less attractive. Two other possibilities, both from Arkansas, were Senator Dale Bumpers and Governor (and future President) Bill Clinton. Both decided against running.
Senator Joe Biden of Delaware was a candidate, but his campaign ended in controversy after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Biden had credited the original author in all speeches but one, and that speech happened to be caught on video. The mistake was exploited by the campaign team of Michael Dukakis. It caused Biden to drop out of the race. Dukakis later admitteded that his campaign was responsible for leaking the tape, and two members of his staff resigned.
This left the stronge4st candidates being Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, Senator Al Gore from Tennessee, Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, Representative Dick Gephardt of Missouri and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. After Hart withdrew there really was no clear frontrunner before the primaries and caucuses began. Gephardt won the Iowa caucuses with Simon finishing a surprising second, and Dukakis in third. In the New Hampshire primary, Dukakis came in first place, Gephardt placed second, and Simon came in third. Both Dukakis and Gore ran negative television ads against Gephardt, causing the United Auto Workers to withdraw their endorsement of Gephardt. This hurt his campaign because he relied heavily on the support of labor unions.
On Super Tuesday, Dukakis won six primaries, Gore and Jackson won five and Gephardt won just one. Gore and Jackson split the Southern states. The next week, Simon won Illinois with Jesse Jackson finishing second. 1988 is the election in which the most candidates won at least one primary. Jackson won 11 contests: seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont). After he won the Michigan caucus he had more pledged delegates than all the other candidates. But Jackson's campaign suffered a significant setback less than two weeks later when he was in the Wisconsin primary by Dukakis. Dukakis followed up with wins in New York and then in Pennsylvania, putting Dukakis solidly in the lead going into the Convention. Jackson was hurt by reports that he had criticized Jews in New York, calling the city "Hymie Town".
The Democratic Party Convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia from July 18–21. Bill Clinton placed Dukakis's name in nomination, but the nominating speech lasted for so long that some delegates began booing to get him to finish. Delegates cheered loudly when Clinton said, "In closing". The most memorable line from the Convention came from Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards (who was elected the state governor in 1990), when she said of President George H. W. Bush, "Poor George [H.W. Bush], he can't help it, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
Dukakis won the nomination on the fist ballot with 2,876.25 votes. Jackson finished second with 1,218.5 votes. Jackson's supporters argued that since their candidate had finished in second place, he was entitled to the vice-presidential spot on the ticket. But Dukakis disagreed, and instead selected Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas. Bentsen's selection led many in the media to compare the ticket to the more famous pairing of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson in the 1960 presidential campaign.
During the election, the Bush campaign sought to portray Governor Dukakis as a "Massachusetts liberal" who was too far to the left. Dukakis was attacked for such things as opposing mandatory recital of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, and of being a "card-carrying member of the ACLU" (something Dukakis proudly admitted during the primaries). Dukakis embraced these criticisms, calling himself a "proud liberal". He said that Liberal should not be considered to be a bad word
The Dukakis campaign tried to tie Bush to some of the recent scandals of the Reagan administration, such as Iran-Contra affair. They also attempted to quash criticism that their man was ignorant on military matters by staging a photo op in which he rode in an M1 Abrams tank outside a General Dynamics plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The move ended up being a massive P. R. blunder. Many in the media mocked Dukakis's goofy appearance as his smiling helmeted head out stuck one of the tank's hatches to wave to the crowd. Footage of this was used by the Bush campaign to portray Dukakis as being clueless on military issues.
Bush had chosen Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate in order to appeal to a younger generation of Americans. But Quayle was not a seasoned politician, and made a number of embarrassing statements. The Dukakis team made an issue of Quayle's gaffes, saying he was dangerously inexperienced to be first-in-line to the presidency. During the Vice Presidential debate, Quayle attempted to meet these allegations by comparing his experience with that of former Senator John F. Kennedy, who had also been a young political rookie when running for the presidency. Quayle said, "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." Dukakis's running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, responded with the famous line: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." Quayle responded, "That was really uncalled for, Senator" but it din not undo thedamage. Democrats ran subsequent television ads as an announcer intoned, "Quayle: just a heartbeat away." This is perhaps one of the best examples of proof of the adage that the number two spot on the ticket does not decide elections. Despite much press about the incident, this did not reduce the Bush-Quayle lead in the polls.
The campaign was not without its sleezy side. During the course of the campaign, Dukakis fired his deputy field director Donna Brazile after she spread rumors that Bush had an affair with his assistant Jennifer Fitzgerald. A number of false rumors about Dukakis were reported in the media, including the claim by Idaho Republican Senator Steve Symms that Dukakis's wife Kitty had burned an American flag to protest the Vietnam War, as well as the claim that Dukakis himself had been treated for a mental illness. Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater was accused of having floated these rumors.
Dukakis was badly hurt by a series of Republican television ads, including ones entitled "Willie Horton", "Revolving Door", and "Boston Harbor". Dukakis was a supporter of a state prison furlough program, which had begun before he was governor. The program had resulted in the release on furlough of convicted murderer Willie Horton, who then committed a rape and assault in Maryland. As Governor, Dukakis had vetoed a 1976 plan to bar inmates convicted of first-degree murder from the furlough program. The program was abolished by the state legislature in April 1988 after public outcry over the Willie Horton case.
Although Dukakis did well in the first presidential debate, Bush seemed to score a triumph in the second debate, with a Gallup Poll giving him a 49–43 lead. Before the second debate, Dukakis had been suffering from the flu and spent much of the day in bed. His performance was poor because of this. The most memorable moment came when CNN anchor Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered. Dukakis's answer discussed the statistical ineffectiveness of capital punishment. Many felt Dukakis's answer lacked the normal emotions one would expect of a person asked about a loved one's rape and death.
The results on election day matched expectations from the polls. Bush received 48,886,597 votes (53.37%) which translated into 426 electoral votes. Dukakis finished second with 41,809,476 votes (45.65%) and 111 electoral votes. In the election Bush was the last Republican thus far to win certain states which are now termed "blue states" because they have not been won a Republican since. These states are Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, and California. Neither his victory percentage (53.4%) nor his total electoral votes (426) have been surpassed in any subsequent presidential election.