Democratic Party nomination United States presidential election, 1988

the candidates seeking democratic party nomination were:

michael dukakis, governor of massachusetts
jesse jackson, clergyman , civil rights leader illinois
al gore, u.s. senator tennessee
dick gephardt, u.s. representative missouri
paul simon, u.s. senator illinois
gary hart, former u.s. senator colorado
bruce babbitt, former governor of arizona
joe biden, u.s. senator delaware
lyndon larouche, economist virginia
david duke, white nationalist louisiana
james traficant, u.s. representative ohio
douglas applegate, u.s. representative ohio
andy martin, perennial candidate connecticut

in 1984 presidential election democrats had nominated walter mondale, traditional new deal-type liberal candidate. when mondale defeated in landslide, party leaders became eager find new approach away 1980 , 1984 debacles. after bush s image affected involvement on iran-contra scandal more reagan s, , after democrats won control of u.s. senate in 1986 congressional elections following economic downturn, party s leaders felt more optimistic having closer race gop in 1988, although probabilities winning presidency still marginal contemporary climate of prosperity.

one goal of party find new, fresh candidate move beyond traditional new deal-great society ideas of past , offer new image of democrats public. end party leaders tried recruit new york governor, mario cuomo, candidate. cuomo had impressed many democrats keynote speech @ 1984 democratic convention, , believed strong candidate. however, cuomo chose not run , result, democratic frontrunner of 1987 former colorado senator gary hart. had made strong showing in 1984 presidential primaries and, after mondale s defeat, had positioned himself moderate centrist many democrats felt party need win.

however, questions , rumors possible extramarital affairs , past debts dogged hart s campaign. hart had told reporters new york times questioned him these rumors that, if followed him around, bored . in separate investigation, miami herald had received anonymous tip friend of donna rice rice involved hart. after affair had emerged, herald reporters found hart s quote in pre-print of new york times magazine. after herald s findings publicized, many other media outlets picked story , hart s ratings in polls plummeted. on may 8, 1987, week after donna rice story broke, hart dropped out of race. campaign chair, representative patricia schroeder tested waters 4 months after hart s withdrawal, decided in september 1987 not run. in december 1987, hart surprised many political pundits resuming presidential campaign. however, allegations of adultery had delivered fatal blow candidacy, , did poorly in primaries before dropping out again.

senator ted kennedy massachusetts had been considered potential candidate, ruled himself out of 1988 campaign in fall of 1985. 2 other politicians mentioned possible candidates, both arkansas, did not join race: senator dale bumpers , governor , future president bill clinton.

joe biden s campaign ended in controversy after delaware senator accused of plagiarizing speech neil kinnock, then-leader of british labour party. dukakis campaign secretly released video in biden filmed repeating stump speech kinnock, minor modifications. led him drop out of race. dukakis later revealed campaign responsible leaking tape, , 2 members of staff resigned. delaware supreme court s board on professional responsibility later clear biden of law school plagiarism charges.

al gore, senator tennessee, chose run nomination. turning 40 in 1988, have been youngest man contest presidency on major party ticket since william jennings bryan in 1896, , youngest president ever if elected, younger john f. kennedy @ election age , theodore roosevelt @ age of assumption of office. became 45th vice president of united states under bill clinton, democratic presidential nominee in 2000. gore later defeated george w. bush, george h.w. s son in 2000.

primaries

after hart withdrew race, no clear frontrunner emerged before primaries , caucuses began. iowa caucus won dick gephardt, had been sagging heavily in polls until, 3 weeks before vote, began campaigning populist , numbers surged. illinois senator paul m. simon finished surprising second, , massachusetts governor michael dukakis finished third. in new hampshire primary, dukakis came in first place, gephardt fell second, , simon came in third. in effort weaken gephardt s candidacy, both dukakis , tennessee senator al gore ran negative television ads against gephardt. ads convinced united auto workers, had endorsed gephardt, withdraw endorsement; crippled gephardt, relied heavily on support of labor unions.

in super tuesday races, dukakis won 6 primaries, gore s five, jesse jackson 5 , gephardt one, gore , jackson splitting southern states. next week, simon won illinois jesse jackson finishing second. 1988 remains race candidates winning primaries since mcgovern reforms of 1971. jackson captured 6.9 million votes , won 11 contests: 7 primaries (alabama, district of columbia, georgia, louisiana, mississippi, puerto rico , virginia) , 4 caucuses (delaware, michigan, south carolina , vermont). jackson scored march victories in alaska s caucuses , texas s local conventions, despite losing texas primary. briefly, after won 55% of vote in michigan democratic caucus, had more pledged delegates other candidates.

however, jackson s campaign suffered significant setback less 2 weeks later when defeated in wisconsin primary michael dukakis. dukakis s win in new york , in pennsylvania ended jackson s hopes nomination.

democratic convention

the democratic party convention held in atlanta, georgia july 18–21. arkansas governor bill clinton placed dukakis s name in nomination, nominating speech lasted long delegates began booing him finish, , received great cheering when said, in closing... .

texas state treasurer ann richards, elected state governor 2 years later, gave speech attacking george bush, including line poor george, can t it, born silver foot in mouth.

with jackson remaining active candidate oppose dukakis, tally president was:

jesse jackson s supporters said since candidate had finished in second place, entitled vice-presidential spot. dukakis disagreed, , instead selected senator lloyd bentsen texas. bentsen s selection led many in media dub ticket boston-austin axis, , compare pairing of john f. kennedy , lyndon b. johnson in 1960 presidential campaign. dukakis , bentsen, kennedy , johnson had been massachusetts , texas respectively.