Dukakis was nearly stopped by an aide at the place where he drove the tank.
Dukakis gives his original planned debate answer about how his father was killed and brother died in a drunk driving accident and he still does not feel right about the death penalty. (perhaps the question doesn't mention kitty dukakis and its more general)
Dukakis doesn't fire Sasso about the Biden Plagiarism Scandal.
Dukakis runs the attack ad about george bush's large mention asking america "Do you live like this?"
Dukakis doesn't get ROASTED by the media like in an SNL sketch.
and some other things that shouldn't happen and need to be changed for a dukakis victory.

Election day and dukakis gains the following states he didn't get in real life.

CA - 47
FL - 21
PA - 25
OH - 23
IL - 24
NJ - 16
ME - 4

January 20th 1989, Michael Dukakis is sworn in as president. What then?
 
The problem with this scenario is Dukakis never presented any clear vision for the direction he wanted to take America in, so it's hard to determine what his policies would be. I remember watching a speech by Ted Kennedy in which he referenced his intention to work with Dukakis to pass healthcare reform, so it's possible that the Duke would try to implement some sort of universal healthcare program. Like Clinton, whether or not he succeeds depends upon his relationships with Congress and the media.

He might not stand up to Hussein over Kuwait; in OTL the majority of Democrats opposed the Gulf War. Even Bush 41 surprised many of his own advisors by taking such a strong stand on Kuwait. Whether or not Dukakis goes to war will definitely have an impact on 1992. Beyond that, his handling of the recession that staddled Bush could either help or hurt his popularity.
 
The problem with this scenario is Dukakis never presented any clear vision for the direction he wanted to take America in, so it's hard to determine what his policies would be. I remember watching a speech by Ted Kennedy in which he referenced his intention to work with Dukakis to pass healthcare reform, so it's possible that the Duke would try to implement some sort of universal healthcare program. Like Clinton, whether or not he succeeds depends upon his relationships with Congress and the media.

He might not stand up to Hussein over Kuwait; in OTL the majority of Democrats opposed the Gulf War. Even Bush 41 surprised many of his own advisors by taking such a strong stand on Kuwait. Whether or not Dukakis goes to war will definitely have an impact on 1992. Beyond that, his handling of the recession that staddled Bush could either help or hurt his popularity.

From what I heard, the H. W. Bush Administration had made some remarks when dealing with Hussein that might have implied US non-intervention if Iraq invaded Kuwait. Not sure if they just hadn't taken a stance and Hussein read this as a go ahead, or if they were genuinely considering it and then came out against once the world saw the oil fields burning and wanted to take action.

Perhaps the Dukakis Administration would be received differently?
 
From what I heard, the H. W. Bush Administration had made some remarks when dealing with Hussein that might have implied US non-intervention if Iraq invaded Kuwait. Not sure if they just hadn't taken a stance and Hussein read this as a go ahead, or if they were genuinely considering it and then came out against once the world saw the oil fields burning and wanted to take action.

Perhaps the Dukakis Administration would be received differently?

I know what you're referring to. April Glaspie, the US Ambassador to Iraq, conveyed that America had no intention of involving itself with Hussein's "border dispute" with Kuwait. As a result, Hussein assumed that America wouldn't turn on him if he invaded. Big mistake. It's tempting to use that as a POD, but in a 2000 interview with PBS the former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia argued that Glaspie's action was standard US policy and no professional diplost would've handled the situation differently. If he's right, then Dukakis is still faced with the Gulf Crisis.
 
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