alternatehistory.com

The campaign of Michael Dukakis was plagued by a number of problems. When campaign manager John Sasso was linked to a videotape attacking Biden plagiarism issue, he was forced to resign. Sasso had created Dukakis' campaign strategy and organization that had won him the nomination. And the resignation of Sasso is generally seen as the turning point of the Dukakis campaign. In the wake of his resignation, the Dukakis campaign deteriorated into shifting messages and changing strategies. Dukakis made a series of blunders, ranging from the Tank photo to Dukakis responding the rape question in the debates with a disconnected New England demeanor that alienated voters. Perhaps worst of all, the Dukakis campaign failed to address and counter-attack the attacks crafted by Lee Atwater. The most prominent of these was perhaps the Willie Horton and furlough issue. The Dukakis campaign did eventually strike back, as the furlough program was started by Dukakis' Republican predecessor, and the Reagan administration had overseen the largest national furlough program in history. However, these counter-attacks had taken place too long after the initial Bush campaign attacks.

Dukakis had come into the election with an early massive lead over the Bush campaign. By the late 1980s, the Reagan administration had a mixed legacy and public opinion. A Democrat had a chance of winning the 1988 election. As that election drew closer, Dukakis was trailing Bush by double digits. The Dukakis campaign changed gears, and did what it should have much earlier in the campaign. By that point, it was too late. Dukakis was viewed as a dispassionate and weak Massachusetts Liberal, and Atwater made sure those became linked and Liberal was a four letter word. Bush won in a landslide.

What if the Dukakis campaign had been stronger? What if John Sasso was kept on, the campaign message and strategy remained consistent, the Dukakis campaign went on the offensive over Republican attacks and counter-attacked immediately, and Dukakis had avoided missteps like the Tank photo and addressing the Kitty Dukakis rape question?
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