41- The Third Presidential Debate, 1988.
Accounts of the 1988 President Election has come to be filled with myth and legend. Gary Hart had never really held a dramatic lead post-convention; he and George Bush had been tied in the polls for much of the campaign, trading attacks and smears. The Bush campaign was spreading the ever-persistent rumours of Hart’s infidelity, but his explicit denials seemed to be working. The Democrats seemed to have the advantage in their nominee. His work in the Senate to stimulate high-tech business had given him the title of an “Atari Democrat”. The title embodied his strengths: youthful, savvy, forward-thinking, as opposed to the stiff, stodgy Republican. The Bush campaign tried to paint Hart as the most left-wing nominee since McGovern, but it rang hollow when his liberalism looked so cool and cutting-edge.
Then the Donna Rice scandal broke. It wasn’t so much the fact that Hart had had an affair that did him in, it was everything else. It was that he’d denied the sex rumours to anyone who would listen. That he’d been using the word “Integrity” so much as he attacked the Republicans over Iran-Contra. That he looked so ridiculous in the infamous photo with with his mistress, how he looked so awkward with his mistress on his lap as he wore a “Monkey Business Crew” T-shirt.
Bush had not been looking forward to the third debate. He had done badly in the first two debates, and Al Gore had bested Quayle in the Vice-Presidential debate. But now the tables had turned. His debate prep was turned on its head. No-one was quite sure whether Hart was going to turn up at first; he’d initially gone to ground when the scandal broke. Then two days later, to the horror of the Democratic Party, he came out and said that the press was out to get him and that he wouldn’t be quitting the race. It was game on.
As it turned out Bush didn’t have to do a great deal. His campaigned briefed to the press that he’d be sticking to “the issues” of a strong economy, strong national security and other Republican talking points. Hart did poorly and understandably, he was catty and distracted in his answers. No-one, not even the moderators, directly mentioned the scandal, but Bush was very careful. He looked confident and aware, and used the words “integrity” and “truthful” frequently. Towards the end, of the debate, Bush stressed the need that for whoever won the election had a duty “look out for hard-working families and not get distracted by any Monkey Business”, a line that got a few laughs from the crowd.
Hart didn’t find this funny. He pointed at Bush and angrily told the Vice President “You know what, you’re really getting on my…”, trailing off before he said something that would have to be censored in the debate summaries on the next day’s morning news. Bush just turned back to the crowd and gave a small smirk. His job was done. His opponent had taken the carefully rehearsed bait and made himself look even worse than he already looked. It was Bush at his best: clever, reasonable and in-control. A man who could be trusted with the top job.
As both candidates walked offstage, one thing was clear to everyone: George Bush was the next President of the United States. His victory wasn’t quite the 49-state landslide Reagan had managed four years earlier, but a blowout nonetheless; it was the last time a Republican has won California or New York in a presidential election. But it couldn’t help but seem like a fluke: Bush had always been outshone by his immediate predecessor and had been frequently outshone by Hart on the campaign trail. Angry Democrats and even the odd Republican muttered that anyone else would have beaten Bush: Joe Biden, Al Gore, Mario Cuomo and Mike Dukakis are the biggest names mentioned. The feeling, especially by people looking back today, that President Bush was a basically decent guy who had only won by being above the tabloid double-spread the election devolved into.
The statesmanlike passivity that had won him the election came to be one of his greatest weaknesses. It was visible in his stoic reaction to the fall of the Berlin Wall, his seemingly poor responses to the recession and even in the 1992 election debates; it was clear that he struggled against a Democrat who could keep it in his pants.
