Presidential Election of 1988

The Democrats

The Democratic field included Bruce E. Babbitt, who had served as governor of Arizona 1978–87; three United States Senators: Joseph R. Biden, Jr., (Delaware), Albert A. Gore, Jr. (Tennessee), and Paul M. Simon (Illinois); Governor Dukakis; two members of the House of Representatives: Richard A. Gephardt (Missouri) and Patricia Schroeder (Colorado); and two candidates who had sought the nomination in 1984: former U.S. Senator Gary Hart and the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson. New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who emerged as a national figure after his keynote address at the 1984 Democratic Convention, was urged to run by many Democratic leaders, but ultimately remained on the sidelines.

Hart, who had run a very strong race for the nomination against former Vice President Walter Mondale in 1984, was considered to be the early frontrunner in the campaign. Hart was leading in the polls when, on May 2, 1987, the Miami Herald reported that the former senator was involved in an extramarital affair with Donna Rice, a 29-year old model and actress. The Herald reported that two of their reporters had observed Hart and Rice entering his Washington home on two consecutive evenings and the paper published a picture of Rice sitting in Hart's lap on board his boat. While initially denying that he was having an affair, Hart withdrew from the race a week after the story was published. Hart would re-enter the race in December 1987. However, the scandal had already damaged his prospects.

Senator Biden would also see his campaign collapse under the weight of a scandal. A videotape was released in which Biden gave a speech in Iowa that was found to have been, nearly word for word, a speech given by Neil Kinnock, the leader of the British Labor Party. There were also allegations that Biden had committed plagiarism while a student at the Syracuse University College of Law. Biden withdrew from the race in late September 1987. After first denying that his campaign had anything to do with exposing Biden, Governor Dukakis revealed that his campaign had supplied the tape to the news media, and he fired campaign manager John Sasso.

Congresswoman Schroeder also withdrew in September 1987. Schroeder, who had traveled the country to determine if she should get into the race, said she was not running because she believed she would be unable to maintain personal contact with the voters. During the press conference where she made her announcement, Schroeder burst into tears and was comforted by her husband. As the caucuses and primaries began in early 1988, no frontrunner emerged. Gephardt, who ran television advertisements criticizing the protectionist trade policies of South Korea and Japan, won the Iowa caucuses and an early primary in South Dakota. However, Gephardt was targeted in negative advertisements by the Dukakis campaign, which criticized him for flip-flopping votes in Congress. Gephardt's campaign was staggered by the decision of the United Auto Workers to rescind their endorsement of his candidacy, and he dropped out after doing poorly in the Super Tuesday round of primaries.

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