"It should have been you"-The presidency of Lloyd Bentsen

  • Thread starter Deleted member 99044
  • Start date

Who should be Bentsen's running mate?

  • Mario Cuomo

    Votes: 12 38.7%
  • Daniel Patrick Moynihan

    Votes: 5 16.1%
  • John Kerry

    Votes: 7 22.6%
  • Paul Simon

    Votes: 3 9.7%
  • Dick Gephardt

    Votes: 4 12.9%

  • Total voters
    31

Deleted member 99044

The election of 1988 was expected to be a victory for Vice President Bush.He led Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis by 4 points in September 16,1988.In order to salvage his once massive lead he focused his campaigning in large states like Texas,California,and Illinois.Dukakis was leaving an event in Chicago when a drunk driver crashed into his car.Dukakis and the drunk driver both died instanly.His wife Kitty was informed of his death as was his running mate Lloyd Bentsen and now Democratic Presidential nominee.
 
This is my first timeline so go easy on me.

Ok, then some basics.

1. Spellcheck! It is so key (and one of my own weaknesses). This includes adding a space after a period. Your post runs together and is very hard to read.

2. Make them a bit longer then five sentences?

3. Last but not least, give us some narrative. Let me feel what is going on, a sense of context. Even in the most bland TLs there is a feeling of story.


Look forward to seeing you grow as a writer!
 

Deleted member 99044

Ok I'll be sure to implement your ideas in my next update where I'll go over the Bush teams reaction and the Veepstakes.
 
September 16,1988 Continued

Deleted member 99044

James Baker and Lee Atwater finished Vice President Bush's statement about the death of Michael Dukakis. That statement said "I'm deeply saddened by the passing of Governor Dukakis and I'll be praying for his family and I hope America does the same". Vice President Bush returned to his campaign headquarters after giving his statement. He felt ashamed that his campaign had been so dirty. "We destroyed that man" he thought to himself. He walked into Lee Atwater's office and told him "No more mud from now on we are running a clean campaign". Lee Atwater said "Of course Mr.Vice President". Atwater disagreed but deep down he conceded that attack ads on Lloyd Bentsen would be in bad taste. He decided that he would need to highlight Bush's stances on abortion and the ERA in order to paint Bentsen as liberal with out attacking him.
 
A New Start

Deleted member 99044

Lloyd Bentsen had just given and emotional statement regarding the death of Governor Dukakis saying "Micheal was a great friend and im sad to see him gone but I'll make sure to run the campaign in a way that would make him proud". The Dukakis team was turned upside down but the speed of a President Election campaign didn't allow much time for grieving and they went right to work finding a new running mate. Bentsen had brought his senate staff in the campaign including his senate chief of staff Joe O'Neil. The campaign came to the conclusion that Bentsen needed a liberal northerner in order to keep the base happy. John Kerry a junior senator was considered because his presence would make Iran-Contra a story again an issue that had haunted George Bush since the primary. However,his inexperience kept him away from the VP slot. Mario Cuomo was eventually chosen due to his charisma and liberalism.
 
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