The economy takes a sharp downturn after the events of Black Monday.
Instead of Mike Dukakis getting nominated in '88, Al Gore gets nominated, and selects Bentsen as his vice presidential candidate.
As a moderate-to-blue dog candidate, Gore appealed to voters all along the Mississippi River (MO, AR, TN, MS, LA) that were once solidly Democratic but were trending more conservative. Bentsen, as Senator from TX with a personal connection to GHWB (having beaten him in his original Senate race in '70) appeals to Texan voters and more conservative Democrats and moderates.
With a ticket of new blood, a rising star in the party, along with the experienced elder statesmen, the pair barnstorm across Middle America throughout the summer of '88.
George Bush is unable to solidly land an attack on the ticket, as Al Gore never had any sort of baggage or controversial issues (unless one counts feuding with record companies). Any attack was quickly parried off and reversed, and George Bush continued to have to waste time dealing with Dan Quayle's endless stream of gaffes. Rather quickly, the election becomes defined as Change vs. a continuation of the Reagan Era.
Bush's involvement in the Iran-Contra Scandal dragged him down further.
The debates went poorly for the Bush-Quayle Ticket; Gore attacked Bush hard for the "criminal" dealings with the Contras, and pointing out the hypocrisy of his tax pledge while Reagan signed a tax increase. The real exciting moment happened in the Vice Presidential Debate. Quayle attempted to link himself to the late JFK, then Bentsen giving his now famous line, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." Quayle was left speechless for a long moment and finally audibly muttered some obscenities about Bentsen. He never recovered his composure. The week was not over before Quayle was dropped from the ticket, and replaced by the perennial Senator Bob Dole.
By the last week of the election, it became increasingly clear that it was a lost cause for the Bush campaign. Conservatives, who roared out in record numbers for Reagan just 4 years ago, were openly critical of George Bush and promising to stay home. Congressional Republicans began campaigning on turning out to prevent super majorities for Democrats.
On Election Night it became clear that the Reagan Revolution was dead. Exit Polls indicated that Conservative turnout was sharply down, while Liberals, extremely confidant, turnout out in droves. It soon became clear that Gore was to be elected in a landslide, however it was yet to be seen how much.
(Figures taken from CBS as of 10:00 AM, EST)
GORE - 52,383,237 VOTES - 529 ELECTORAL VOTES
BUSH - 37,952,105 VOTES - 9 ELECTORAL VOTES
In the end, for the first time in anyone's memory, Idaho was a swing state, decided by a few thousand votes. Only that and NH and UT would be in his column.
Gore would be elected President, and ushered America into a prosperous and bountiful 90s, fueled by a project he could claim a part in, the World Wide Web.
(Figured out by subtracting 12% from Bush and giving 12% to Dukakis's percent in every state)
