U.S. presidential election, 1988

The election was held on November 8, 1988.

The 1988 presidential election was a wide 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.

Democratic Primary

Having been badly defeated in the 1984 presidential election, the Democrats were eager to find a new approach to win the presidency. Among the field of candidates were the following:

• Bruce Babbitt, former Governor from Arizona
• Joseph Biden, Senator from Delaware
• Michael Dukakis, Governor from Massachusetts
• Dick Gephardt, Representative from Missouri
• Al Gore, Senator from Tennessee
• Gary Hart, Senator from Colorado
• Jesse Jackson, Reverend and civil rights activist
• Paul Simon, Senator from Illinois

In early 1987, Senator Gary Hart was the clear frontrunner in the field (Democratic party efforts to recruit New York Governor Mario Cuomo aside). Hart had put in a strong showing in the 1984 presidential election, and had refined his campaign in the intervening years.

However, questions about extramarital affairs dogged the charismatic candidate. An exasperated Hart challenged the press to tail him. The Miami Herald did exactly that, to uncover damaging evidence of an affair with 29-year-old model Donna Rice, getting a photograph of Rice sitting on Hart's lap. On May 8, 1987, a week after the Donna Rice story broke, Hart dropped out of the race. In December of 1987, Hart returned to the race. However the damage had been done.

Joseph Biden's campaign was also surrounded with controversy, as he was found to have plagiarized a speech from British Labour party leader Neil Kinnock, and then was found to have also engaged in plagiarism in law school. These and other misrepresentations would lead him to drop out of the race.

In the Iowa caucuses, Gephardt finished first, Simon finished second, and Dukakis finished third. In the New Hampshire primary, Dukakis finished first, Gephardt finished second, and Simon finished third. In the Super Tuesday races, Dukakis fared very well, though not well enough to knock out his main rivals. Gore and Jackson did very well in those races, both placing first in many southern states, creating a credible challenge to Dukakis's front runner status. Dukakis eventually emerged as the winner of a long primary process.

The Democratic Party Convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia. It was primarily noteworthy for the opening night speech (widely criticized as lengthy and tedious) delivered by Arkansas governor William Jefferson Clinton, and the selection of Lloyd Bentson as the vice presidential candidate.

Republican Primary

The Republican primary was less notable, with Vice President George H. W. Bush going in as the clear frontrunner. Bush had the support of President Ronald Reagan, who remained very popular with both Republicans and the country at large. Bush pledged to continue Reagan's policies, but also pledged a "kinder, gentler America" in an attempt to win over some more moderate voters.

There nevertheless emerged a few challengers for the nomination. They were:

• Bob Dole, Senator from Kansas
• Pierre DuPont
• Alexander Haig, Reagan's former Secretary of State
• Jack Kemp
• Pat Robertson, evangelical preacher

Bush's main challenge came from Sen. Dole, who won the Iowa caucus, though Bush ultimately won the nomination.

The Republican party convention was held in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Louisiana Superdome. Bush made an energetic pledge, "Read my lips: no new taxes." It would be a comment that would dog him for a long time to come. Vice-Presidential candidate Dan Quayle was selected at the convention.

Third parties

• Willa Kenoyer / Ron Ehrenreich - Socialist Party USA: Advocated a decentralist government approach with policies determined by the needs of the workers.
• Ron Paul - Libertarian Party: Called for the adoption of a global policy on military non-intervention; wanted to uninvolve the government with education; critical of Reagan's "bail out" of the Soviet Union.
• Lenora Fulani - New Alliance Party: Focused on issues concerning unemployment, healthcare, and homelessness.

General Election

During the election, the Bush campaign sought to portray Gov. Dukakis as unreasonably liberal and left wing. 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.

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.

• Willie Horton campaign ads

Bush's running mate pick was Senator Dan Quayle. Quayle was young and athletic, and Bush had specifically chose 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 unexperienced 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." [1]

Results

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.

See also: President of the United States, U.S. presidential election, 1988, History of the United States (1988-present)