1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries


From February 8 to June 14, 1988, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1988 United States presidential election. Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1988 Democratic National Convention held from July 18 to July 21, 1988, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Background

Having been badly defeated in the 1984 presidential election, the Democrats in 1985 and 1986 were eager to find a new approach to win the presidency. They created the Democratic Leadership Council, with the aim of recruiting a candidate for the 1988 election.
The large gains in the 1986 mid-term elections and the continuing Iran–Contra affair gave Democrats confidence in the run-up to the primary season.

Polling

Nationwide polling

1986
Poll sourcePublication
GallupJan 10-13, 19861%1%8%8%1%-*22%-3%2%47%18%16%3%3%6%1%5%
GallupApril 11-14, 19861%1%6%7%2%-*27%-4%1%39%14%18%2%5%6%2%2%
GallupJune 9-16, 1986**7%7%***22%-4%*34%26%17%*3%6%*3%
GallupJune 9-16, 1986-------30%---55%-------
GallupJune 9-16, 1986-----------59%28%------
GallupJune 9-16, 1986-----------75%-14%-----
GallupSeptember 3-17, 1986-------29%---54%-------
GallupSeptember 3-17, 1986-----------58%29%------
GallupSeptember 3-17, 1986-----------74%-15%-----
GallupOctober 24-27, 1986**8%7%***27%3%**32%26%14%*3%6%*3%

1987
Poll sourcePublication
Washington Post - ABC-NewsJanuary 15-19, 19872%1%---18%-1%-39%-13%4%----
GallupJan 16-19, 19871%2%11%4%-23%3%1%-53%29%21%5%6%---
GallupJan 16-19, 1987-----23%---60%-------
New York Times - CBS-NewsJan 18-21, 19871%1%---17%1%2%-33%-9%3%----
Washington Post - ABC-NewsMarch 5-9, 19871%1%-3%--4%3%-46%-14%4%2%---
GallupApril 10-13, 19874%2%----7%6%6%--27%----12%
Washington Post - ABC-NewsMay 4, 1987------9%--36%-12%-----
New York Times - CBS-NewsMay 5-6, 19871%1%----6%4%-32%-10%--1%--
GallupMay 6-7, 19872%1%----11%7%6%--22%--9%-5%
New York Times - CBS-NewsMay 11-14, 19872%2%--2%-11%4%5%--17%--6%--
New York Times - CBS-NewsMay 11-14, 19873%1%6%-2%25%6%3%4%--12%4%-5%--
Washington Post - ABC-NewsMay 28-June 2, 19874%3%---*11%10%5%--25%--13%--
GallupJune 8-14, 19872%7%----11%7%5%--18%--7%-5%
GallupJuly 10-13, 19872%4%----13%3%8%--17%--7%-2%
New York Times - CBS-NewsJuly 21-22, 19873%4%----8%3%7%--14%--7%5%3%
GallupAug. 24-Sep. 2, 19872%3%----13%6%8%--19%--7%6%2%
Gallup - Times Mirror Co.Sep. 1-13, 19871%4%----15%7%6%--24%--7%3%3%
Washington Post - ABC-NewsSeptember 17-23, 19874%6%----12%8%7%--23%--7%--
GallupOctober 23-26, 19871%-----14%5%7%--22%--8%-*
Washington Post - ABC-NewsDecember 13-15, 19874%6%----15%8%7%30%-20%--7%--
New York Times - CBS-NewsDecember 15, 19872%-----9%1%5%21%-17%--4%--
New York Times - CBS-NewsDecember 15, 19874%-----11%3%5%--22%--5%--
GallupDec. 7-28, 19873%-----10%2%5%31%-13%--10%-26%

1988
Head-to-head polling
Poll sourcePublicationSample
size		Margin
of error
GallupJune 9–16, 1986452 RV±6.0%30%55%–—15%
GallupJune 9–16, 1986452 RV±6.0%–59%28%—13%
GallupJune 9–16, 1986452 RV±6.0%—75%–14%11%

Statewide and regional polling

South
Poll sourceDatesSample
size		Margin
of error
Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionSep. 18–28, 19876,452 A±2.0%3%3%–9%5%13%–27%5%35%
Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionSep. 18–28, 19876,452 A±2.0%––17%–––27%11%–45%

California
Poll sourceDatesSample
size		Margin
of error
Teichner/Sacramento BeeMay 8–9, 1987510 RV±4.0%3%4%5%2%2%34%9%2%39%
Teichner/Sacramento BeeMay 8–9, 1987510 RV±4.0%2%4%8%5%5%–13%3%40%

Maryland
Poll sourceDatesSample
size		Margin
of error
Savitz Research CenterOctober 9–14, 1987559 RV±4.0%2%–12%5%6%–35%6%35%

New Hampshire
Poll sourceDatesSample
size		Margin
of error
Bannon ResearchSep.–Oct. 1986501 LV±5.0%1%1%26%–1%–47%6%1%–19%
Bannon ResearchSep.–Oct. 1986501 LV±5.0%1%1%19%27%1%—33%3%––17%

Pre-primary events

The Hart-Rice affair

The Democratic front-runner for most of 1987 was former Colorado Senator Gary Hart. Hart had made a strong showing in the 1984 primaries and, after Mondale's defeat in the presidential election, had positioned himself as the moderate centrist many Democrats felt their party would need to win.
However, questions and rumors about possible extramarital affairs and about past debts dogged Hart's campaign. One of the great myths is that Senator Hart challenged the media to "put a tail" on him and that reporters then took him up on that challenge. In fact, Hart had told E. J. Dionne of The New York Times that if reporters followed him around, they would "be bored". However, in a separate investigation, the Miami Herald claimed to have received an anonymous tip from a friend of Donna Rice that Rice was involved with Hart. It was only after Hart had been discovered that the Herald reporters found Hart's quote in a pre-print of The New York Times Magazine.
On May 8, 1987, a week after the Donna Rice story broke, Hart dropped out of the race.
In December 1987, Hart surprised many political pundits by resuming his presidential campaign. He again led in the polls for the Democratic nomination, both nationally and in Iowa. However, the allegations of adultery and reports of irregularities in his campaign financing had delivered a fatal blow to his candidacy, and he fared poorly in the early primaries before dropping out again.
The Hart scandal would later be depicted in the 2018 film The Front Runner, with Hugh Jackman portraying Hart.

Biden plagiarism scandals

Delaware Senator Joe Biden led a highly competitive campaign which ended in controversy after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Though Biden had correctly credited the original author in all speeches but one, the one of which he failed to make mention of the originator was caught on video and sent to the press by members of the Dukakis campaign. In the video Biden is filmed repeating a stump speech by Kinnock, with only minor modifications. Michael Dukakis later acknowledged that his campaign was responsible for leaking the tape, and two members of his staff resigned.
It was also reported that Biden had been guilty of plagiarism years before, while a student at the Syracuse University College of Law in the 1960s. Though Biden professed his integrity, the impression lingering in the media as the result of this double punch would lead him to drop out of the race. He formally suspended his campaign on September 28, 1987.
The Delaware Supreme Court's Board on Professional Responsibility would later clear Biden of the law school plagiarism charges.
After campaigns in 2008 and 2020, Biden was elected the 47th vice president in 2008 and 2012 and the 46th president in 2020.

Results

In the Iowa caucuses, Gephardt finished first, Simon finished second, and Dukakis finished third. In the New Hampshire primary, Dukakis finished first, Gephardt finished second, and Simon finished third. Dukakis and Gore campaigned hard against Gephardt with negative ads, and eventually the United Auto Workers retracted their endorsement of Gephardt, who was heavily dependent on labor union backing.
In the Super Tuesday races, Dukakis won six primaries, Gore five, Jackson five and Gephardt one, with Gore and Jackson splitting the southern states. The next week, Simon won Illinois. 1988 is tied with 1992 as the race with the most candidates winning primaries since the McGovern reforms of 1971. Gore's effort to paint Dukakis as too liberal for the general election proved unsuccessful and he eventually withdrew. Jackson focused more on getting enough delegates to make sure African-American interests were represented in the platform than on winning outright. Dukakis eventually emerged as the party's nominee.

Democratic convention

The Democratic Party Convention was held in Atlanta, Georgia, July 18–21. The Dukakis nominating speech delivered by Arkansas governor and future president Bill Clinton was widely criticized as too long and tedious.
Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards,, delivered a memorable keynote address in which she uttered the lines "Poor George, he can't help it, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth." Six years later, Bush's son George W. Bush would deny Richards re-election as Texas Governor in 1994.
With most candidates having withdrawn and asking their delegates to vote for Dukakis, the tally for president was as follows:
Jesse Jackson's campaign believed that since they had come in a respectable second, Jackson was entitled to the vice presidential spot. Dukakis refused, and gave the spot to Lloyd Bentsen.
Bentsen was selected in large part to secure the state of Texas and its large electoral vote for the Democrats. During the vice-presidential debate, Republican candidate and Senator Dan Quayle ignored a head-on confrontation with Bentsen and spent his time attacking Dukakis.