A very Bushy failure

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The 1988 Election
After the Democratic and Republican National Conventions the Democrats held a lead of ten points. Despite President Ronald Reagan's immense popularity his Vice President George H.W Bush struggled to tap into the coalitions that gave Reagan the presidency. However,the Democrats made an error in nominating Micheal Dukakis for the presidency as his liberalism while governor of Massachusetts including some unpopular actions including the decriminalization of sodomy,legalizing flag burning,and a weekend pass system for death row inmates and other policies that can generally be interpreted as soft on crime. George Bush's campaign manager Lee Atwater decided that the way to get George Bush into the lead was to increase Dukakis's unfavorables. All throughout the weeks and months following the conventions ads were run that attacked Duakakis's liberalism. Despite being begged by his campaign team to respond with their own ads Micheal Dukakis didn't give the green light as he wanted to run a clean campaign. By September 15th Bush/Quayle lead Dukakis/Bentsen by 6 points. Dukakis was desperate so he brought in an old friend to help his flailing campaign. This friend went by the name of John Sasso. Sasso decided the best course of action was to focus on electorally rich states and to finally fight back against the attack ads. They came up with ads attacking Bush on the high level of crime in the country,and on his personal wealth. Dukakis did a rally on September 20th in Chicago. After the rally he was scheduled to do a fundraiser. Dukakis entered his vehicle h asking his secret service detail if they wanted to stop by a fast food restaurant to get some food when suddenly their car was hit by a truck. An ambulance was called but by the time they got to the hospital Dukakis was dead on arrival. John Sasso called Dukakis's wife to inform her of her husbands passing. Lloyd Bentsen Dukakis's running mate personally called the families of the secret service agents who died. All politicians from both parties gave statements of support to the Dukakis family. President Reagan said in his statement "I'm deeply saddened for the Dukakis family and the entire country should be praying for them regardless of political disagreements." Lloyd Bentsen became the new Democratic presidential candidate. He said " I'm saddened about the passing of my friend, Micheal Dukakis, I'll do my best to honor his memory in the remaining weeks and months of this campaign". Lee Atwater took the news quite badly throwing papers and anything he could find on the ground some heard him yell "God Dammit". Atwater was worried that this September surprise would be the end of the Bush campaign. While Lee Atwater attempted to come up with a new strategy,The Bentsen campaign wanted to vet VP candidates as soon as possible.His list included Al Gore,Bill Clinton,Mario Cuomo,Dick Gephardt,Daniel Patrick Moynihan,and others. In the end they decided on Mario Cuomo as there VP candidate.They hoped his liberalism would keep nervous liberals calm and believed his charismatic persona would override any negative that may result from his liberalism. The campaign continued with Mario Cuomo campaigning in Illinois and Pennsylvania.Bentsen campaigned in Missouri,Arkansas,Tennessee,Texas,California. Lee Atwater decided to run ads hitting Bentsen on his support for the ERA,environmental protection,and abortion. He also tasked Dan Quayle with hitting Bentsen on those issues in rallies in southern states like Texas,Tennessee,and Arkansas.
The first presidential debate was held on September 25 with Bentsen dominating domestic policy and debating George Bush to a draw on foreign policy overall the debate showed the public that Lloyd Bentsen is not Michael Dukakis. Dan Quayle made a gaffe that would change the course of the election. Quayle said in a rally that "Lloyd Bentsen and Mario Cuomo want to put unAmerican liberal women ahead of the real Americans in the heartland". Cuomo and Bentsen fired back saying that it is not unAmerican to say that women deserve real equality. Lloyd Bentsen's number fell in Tennessee and Arkansas but shot up in Michigan,Vermont,New Hampshire,and Maine due to increased support from suburban women. According to campaign officials George Bush chewed out Dan Quayle telling him "You were the worse pick I could have ever made Thornburough and Lynn Martin would have been a thousand times better". It was in this backdrop that the first and only Vice Presidential debate. Cuomo would be seen as a winner as Quayle was scared to be bold and disappoint his boss. The Bush campaign bet everything on the Last Presidential debate on October 13. Unfortunately the debate had low viewership and the debate failed to have exciting moments. The campaigns worked hard for votes but in the end no one was surprised by the results.

Electoral Vote
Bentsen 280 Bush 257
States carried by Bentsen:California,Oregon,Washington,Minnesota,Iowa,Wisconsin,Illinois,Missouri,Texas,West Virginia,Maryland,Delaware,Pennsylvania,New York,Massachusetts,Rhode Island,and D.C
Bush:Idaho,Nevada,Arizona,New Mexico,Alaska,Utah,Colorado,Wyoming,Montana,South Dakota,North Dakota ,Nebraska,Kansas,Oklahoma,Arkansas,Louisiana,Mississippi,Alabama,Georgia,South Corolina,North Carolina,Florida,New Jersey,Connecticu,Indiana,and Ohio
 
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Great topic but please work on the formatting. Double spaces between paragraphs and work on appearance. I will follow this and see where this goes.
 
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