1988 - Bush vs. Dukakis
George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis debate; Courtesy of the George Bush Presidential Library
Vice President George H.W. Bush aspires to succeed Ronald Reagan, but he must contend with a slew of Republican hopefuls, including Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, former Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada, former Delaware Governor Pierre “Pete” DuPont IV, Representative Jack Kemp of New York, and the Reverend Marion “Pat” Robertson.
Bush is the initial front-runner, but after a stumbling third-place finish behind Dole and Robertson in the Iowa caucuses, he bounces back to win the New Hampshire primary, with the help of negative commercials that attack Dole as a tax-raiser. (Dole responds by angrily demanding that Bush “stop lying about my record.”) When the Super Tuesday primaries roll around, Bush’s fundraising lead helps him to overwhelm his rivals. That day, he wins all 16 primaries and cinches the GOP presidential nomination.
Nine Democratic hopefuls compete for their party’s nomination, including Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts; former Governor Bruce Babbitt of Arizona; Senators Al Gore of Tennessee, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., of Delaware, Gary Hart of Colorado, and Paul Simon of Illinois; Representatives Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Patricia Schroeder of Colorado, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Hart, the initial front-runner based on his performance in the 1984 primaries, stumbles and is unable to overcome the effects of a 1987 exposé in the Miami Herald about his extramarital affair. After a primary season in which more different Democratic candidates win primaries than any other, most in the field withdraw and throw their support to Dukakis, who receives the party’s nomination.
For the general-election campaign, Bush and Dukakis each receive $46.1 million in federal funding. But contrary to the spirit of campaign-finance reform, if not the letter of the law, both sides set out to raise another $50 million each from wealthy individuals and corporations in the form of unregulated soft-money contributions. Some 375 deep-pocketed donors give $100,000 or more apiece — a level of largess that exceeds even the excesses of the 1972 campaign, when Nixon contributors rushed to drop off suitcases full of cash before the restrictions of the Federal Election Campaign Act kicked in. The Democrats’ list of six-figure donors includes Hollywood moguls Barry Diller and Lew Wasserman, Lotus Software founder Mitch Kapor, and homebuilder Eli Broad. The GOP’s $100,000 men include shopping mall developer Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr., Wall Street financier Asher B. Edelman, and real-estate entrepreneur Donald Trump. In addition, the Republicans raise $100,000 or more from Occidental Petroleum, Paine Webber Group, RJR Nabisco, and other corporations.
On Election Day, Bush bests Dukakis, beating him 53.4 percent to 45.6 percent in the popular vote and crushing him in the Electoral College by 426 to 111.
SOURCES: Rita Beamish, “Candidates Pouring Cash Into Pre-Super Tuesday Contests,” Associated Press, February 23, 1988; Rick Shaughnessy, “Bush Wins Nomination – And Here’s How He Did It,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, August 18, 1988; Tom Raum, “Bush Wins Pennsylvania,” Associated Press, April 26, 1988; Gaylord Shaw, “The Nomination’s His; Dukakis Wins on First Ballot Amid Celebration of Unity,” Newsday, July 21, 1988; Hillary Chura, “Unlike Mondale in ’84, Dukakis Enters Homestretch Debt-Free,” Christian Science Monitor, August 24, 1988; David Ignatius, “Return of the Fat Cats,” The Washington Post, November 20, 1988; “1988 Presidential Election Results,” David Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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