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1988 Democratic National Convention

1988 Presidential Election
Convention
Date(s)	July 18 - July 21
City	Atlanta, Georgia
Venue	The Omni
Keynote Speaker	Ann Richards
Notable Speakers	Ted Kennedy Bill Clinton Jim Hightower Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale George McGovern Jesse Jackson
Candidates
Presidential Nominee	Gov. Michael Dukakis (MA)
Vice Presidential Nominee	Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (TX)
Voting
Total Delegates	4,105
Votes Needed for Nomination	2,054
Results (President)	Dukakis (MA): 2,877 (70.09%) Jackson (DC): 1,219 (29.70%) Stallings (ID): 3 (0.07%) Biden (DE): 2 (0.05%) Gephardt (MO): 2 (0.05%) Bentsen (TX): 1 (0.02%) Hart (CO): 1 (0.02%)
Ballots	1
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The 1988 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia from July 18–July 21, 1988 to select a candidate for the 1988 United States presidential election. At the convention Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was nominated for President and Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas for Vice President. The chair of the convention was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Jim Wright.

Notable speakers

• Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards gave a keynote speech that put her in the public spotlight and included the line that George H.W. Bush was "born with a silver foot in his mouth".
• Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy's remarks contained the famous iteration "Where was George?"
• Arkansas governor Bill Clinton gave a widely jeered 32-minute-long opening night address that some predicted would ruin his political career, a source of much satisfaction to him 4 years later when he was elected the 42nd President of the United States.
• Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, who called Bush "a toothache of a man."
• Former President Jimmy Carter of Georgia
• Former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota
• Former Senator George S. McGovern of South Dakota
• John F. Kennedy, Jr.
• Jesse Jackson

In one of the subsequent presidential debates, when questioned about the general alleged "negativity" of the campaign, Bush cited the ad hominem attacks against him at the Convention as the root cause, an assertion not rebutted by Dukakis then or subsequently.

Production

The organizers for the convention famously chose pastel colors as a background in the belief that they would appear better on television. They were patterned after the colors of the American flag in salmon, azure, and eggshell.^[1] Republicans mocked the choice and used it to buttress their case that the Democrats were "soft" on the issues.^[2] New Jersey governor Thomas Kean claimed at the Republican Convention that "The Dukakis Democrats will try to talk tough, but don't be fooled. They may try to talk like Dirty Harry, but they will still act like Pee Wee Herman." Kean continued that Democrats and Republicans alike "have no use for pastel patriotism... The liberal Democrats are trying to hide more than the colors in our flag; they are trying to hide their true colors."^[1]

Results

Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts	Reverend Jesse Jackson of Illinois	Senator Al Gore of Tennessee	Representative Dick Gephardt of Missouri
Senator Paul Simon of Illinois	Former Senator Gary Hart of Colorado	Former Governor Bruce Babbitt of Arizona	Senator Joe Biden of Delaware

President

Delegate totals for presidential candidates:^[3]

• Michael Dukakis - 2,877 (70.09%)
• Jesse Jackson - 1,219 (29.70%)
• Richard Stallings - 3 (0.07%)
• Joe Biden - 2 (0.05%)
• Dick Gephardt - 2 (0.05%)
• Lloyd Bentsen - 1 (0.02%)
• Gary Hart - 1 (0.02%)

Vice-President

With Jackson's people demanding that he receive the Vice Presidency as his reward for coming in second, the Dukakis campaign decided to nominate Senator Bentsen by voice vote, rather than roll call vote.

References