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Republican Ticket
Presidential candidate: GEORGE H. W. BUSH, Vice President
VP candidate: DAN QUAYLE, Indiana Senator
Popular votes: 48,886,097 (53.4%)
Electoral votes: 426
Democratic Ticket
Presidential candidate: Michael Dukakis, Massachusetts Governor
VP candidate: Lloyd Bentsen, Texas Senator
Popular votes: 41,809,074 (45.6%)
Electoral votes: 112
1988 US Electoral Map: How each state voted. Election Results. Wisconsin's Choice: Dukakis.

Election Facts

  • This election centered on symbolic issues that showed the conservative mood of the nation.
  • Bush defined Dukakis as a liberal who was out of touch with American values.
  • Bush painted Dukakis as unpatriotic and soft on crime.
  • Dukakis responded by characterizing Bush as unresponsive to middle-class concerns about jobs, housing, health care, and the environment. The strategy proved too little too late.
George Bush with members of the UW hockey team, Madison, March 31, 1988. Photo courtesy of the "Wisconsin State Journal."
Comedian and political activist Al Franken presents a Wisconsin Badger T-shirt to Michael Dukakis at the UW Memorial Union, April 7, 1988. Photo by Henry A. Koshollek, courtesy of "The Capital Times."