Election of 1988: Bush, Dukakis, and the Liberal Democratic Failure

Candidates:
Republican Party: George H.W. Bush (Texas) and Dan Quayle (Indiana)
Democratic Party: Michael Dukakis (Massachusetts) and Lloyd Bentsen (Texas)

Election Results:
Bush/Quayle: 426 electoral votes, 48.8 million popular votes
Dukakis/Bentsen: 111 electoral votes, 41.8 million popular votes

Summary:
The second term of Ronald Reagan was much more tumultuous than his first term. Having won a major mandate in the 1984 presidential election, the Republicans looked forward to further shaping a conservative government for years to come. However, questions about Reagan's health and age (at 73, he was the oldest president in American history) began to swirl around the White House. Reagan's lapses in memory, his poor hearing, and his struggles with various ailments worried many within the Reagan inner circle and became a focus of criticism by political pundits.

As well, Reagan faced controversy stemming from the TWA Flight 847 hijacking by Islamic terrorists and its resolution through the rest of his term. In order to free seven American hostages held in Lebanon, Reagan agreed to sell American missiles to Iran in order to placate radical Muslims. This action went against his previous statements that the American government would not negotiate with terrorists. If this were not bad enough for Reagan, it was revealed in 1986 that he authorized the transfer of money from the Iranian weapons sale to support Nicaraguan anti-communists, or contras, in their effort to keep Communism out of Central America. At first denying these allegations, Reagan was encouraged by incriminating congressional investigations to confess complicity in 1987 and apologize to Americans for his actions.

The Iran-Contra scandal coupled with the tripling of the federal deficit under the Reagan administration and the growing gap between rich and poor would have sunk the Republican Party in 1988 if not for a rebound in the stock market as the primaries approached. Reagan endorsed the candidacy of Vice President George H.W. Bush, who had been a rival of Reagan's for a decade before joining the Republican ticket in 1980. Bush survived the nomination process, where he easily disposed of challengers Robert Dole and Reverend Pat Robertson. The Bush campaign and Republicans nationwide were able to run on patriotism and the growing economic strength of the nation as the 1980s were coming to a close.

A weakened Democratic Party was divided into many factions and the most composed of the bunch was Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who represented a straight liberal perception of Democratic politics. Dukakis, however, was no much for the Republican campaign machine. Bush, no stranger to negative campaigning, took every opportunity to discredit Dukakis as a dangerous and radical liberal. The issue of Willie Horton, a convicted murderer who was freed under a controversial Massachusetts policy endorsed by Dukakis, and the Democratic approach to law and order harmed the Dukakis campaign. Dukakis attempted to play the role of patriot by riding in a tank but he looked more like a little boy playing general than a potential commander in chief. Dukakis' attempt to walk the line between liberals (giving Jesse Jackson time at the Democratic convention) and moderates (having Texan Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate) failed to get the party out from under the popularity of the Reagan-Bush administration. George Bush became the first sitting vice president to be elected president since the election of Martin Van Buren in 1836.