Nine Key Moments : 1988 Campaign

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When Dukakis trekked to Texas, Bentsen took him aside and asked a favor: that he not repeat the remark made in Ohio. "Mike," he said, "don't do that to me." Bentsen had been burned by Walter Mondale, and he was still smarting. He wanted the nomination, but he would not jump through a hoop to get it.

Bentsen and Dukakis barely spoke. But Dukakis liked Bentsen and saw him as a statesman. Yet Dukakis worried about their differences on contra aid and defense spending. On Monday, July 11, Dukakis convened a meeting of top aides at his Brookline, Mass., home. The vote for Bentsen was unanimous.

At the last moment, Dukakis had a final twinge about Gore. The Tennesseean's youth and personal force were appealing. Dukakis dismissed Gore's taunting remarks in New York as legitimate political sparring. But in the end, Dukakis went with maturity and Texas.

5 Jackson begs for a serious hearing and a real role in the campaign, but Dukakis stays aloof

"The coat you're wearing don't fit, Jesse!" The Rev. Cameron Alexander was fuming. An Atlanta preacher and longtime supporter, he had gathered with other members of the Jackson Old Guard in Atlanta at the end of August for an old- fashioned gripe session about the faltering Dukakis-Jackson partnership. "When are you gonna blow up at him?" he asked.

Jackson, in his own mind, had already taken more than his fair share of slights. In early July there had been the dinner in Brookline when Dukakis served poached salmon but no meat-and-potatoes talk about the vice presidency. Then there was the Phone-Call-That-Never-Arrived after Bentsen was chosen. Nor did the relationship improve after the convention. When Dukakis visited Neshoba County, Miss., he neglected to mention the three civil rights workers slain there in 1964. Jackson deeply wanted a private meeting with Dukakis, but the Governor resisted. At one point Jackson told a friend, "They're afraid of me."

By the time of the late-August meeting in Atlanta, Jackson had been on the road campaigning for Dukakis for a month, but the two men had barely spoken since the convention. In the midst of the session, campaign chairman Paul Brountas telephoned Jackson. What was going on down there? Jesse explained that he felt frustrated because Dukakis was not consulting with him. "One of the problems," said Brountas, "is that you've never unequivocally endorsed the Governor."

Jackson was stunned. He could hardly believe what he had heard. Censured by his supporters for doing too much, now he was being reproached by Brountas for doing too little. When Jackson told his friends what had happened, they were adamant: Give it up, they told Jesse. With insurrection in the air, they adjourned for soul food at Paschal's.

No sooner had they arrived than Jackson was informed that Dukakis himself was on the phone. Jackson and an aide moved into the kitchen to take the call. , Jackson was uncertain: "I don't know what to say to him." His adviser replied, "Tell him you understand that he feels there has been no unqualified endorsement."

"What will he say to that?" Jesse retorted.

"He'll have to call you back because he won't know what to say."