Favorable or Unfavorable #255: Michael Dukakis

[vcczar]

Gov. Dukakis (MA-D) ran for president in the first election that I have any memory of. Dukakis's loss is kind of influential for the party. He increased Democrat support in states that were strongly pro-Reagan, and many of these states became more or less reliably Blue from then on. If you improve Dukakis to have won states that Bush won by only 51.9% or less, you get a map that somewhat resembles later Democrat performances. This isn't the case with Mondale and Carter, for whatever reason. I think has to do with liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats still in the process of switching parties. 

I was in elementary school in Dallas, TX in 1988, and I remember that my class had to place a blue or red star on a cut out of Texas as our "vote" for president. My entire class, except for myself and one of my best friends, voted for George Bush. I remember voting for Dukakis--not because I had any opinion about politics--but because I just felt sorry for him. I also liked the color blue more than read, but that was just a secondary factor. I think my friend voted along with me not just because I had voted for Dukakis, but because he didn't really like anyone else in the class.  I remember thinking that neither candidate in 1988 had any charisma. If anyone were to have asked me who I liked more at that age, I might have said that they both looked boring and mean. 

His actions:

Dukakis, Michael	1986	State economic boom in MA (Massachusetts Miracle) sees Gov Dukakis profile rise
Dukakis, Michael	1988	Dem pres nom; 1st major party nom not of Western European ancestry
Dukakis, Michael	1991	2nd Non-Consec term as Gov of MA ends, serving 12-yrs total
Dukakis, Michael	2009	Considered for US Sen vacancy on Ted Kennedy's death
Dukakis, Michael	2020	Supports Warren for Dem nom in pres primary