Nine Key Moments : 1988 Campaign

(7 of 8)

After the first presidential debate, a private discussion went on at Dukakis headquarters in Boston. Yes, Dukakis had done well, but the second debate was the clincher. Stories were already appearing, outlining a Bush Electoral College victory. So, should Dukakis come out fighting, Duke as Rambo? Or should he accentuate the positive, Duke as teddy bear? The issue polarized the staff. By the time the Dukakis camp arrived in Los Angeles for Round 2, everyone agreed that it should be the Duke as Rambo. Everyone, that is, except the would-be Rambo.

Before lunch in the Governor's suite at the Westin Bonaventure the day before the debate, campaign manager Susan Estrich, Sasso and Nick Mitropoulos, a longtime Dukakis operative, all advocated aggressiveness. Ted Sorensen brandished a column by David Broder of the Washington Post arguing that Dukakis had to hit back at Bush. "I don't see it that way," Dukakis said. "I'm going to try to be positive." He countered his staff's boxing metaphors with one of his own: the marathon.

Finally, Dukakis' aides got him to agree on a specific battle plan. He would attack the Vice President on six subjects: Quayle, Iran-contra, abortion, patriotism, drugs and Boston Harbor. He was also supposed to dare the Vice President to look directly into the camera and tell the American people that J. Danforth Quayle was best qualified to be Vice President.

On debate day Dukakis woke up feeling ill. His throat was sore, his head congested. At 6 a.m. two doctors were summoned. The three-hour morning debate practice was canceled. Instead, a small group sat with the Governor and ran over details. After going for a sound-and-light check in the debate hall, Dukakis went to his hotel and dropped off to sleep again. Another discussion was planned for 2:30, but when his aides returned, Dukakis was still asleep. They were astonished; Dukakis rarely napped for more than 20 minutes. He woke at 3, told his aides he wanted to rest a while longer and then slept fitfully until 5, only an hour before the debate.

In the holding room offstage, half an hour before the debate, Dukakis was boning up on his answers, rehearsing prepared lines. Then the phone rang. It was Mario Cuomo. Dukakis took the call and spoke to him for 20 minutes. Aides say it kept him from gathering his thoughts and focusing on his strategy.

Then, less than a minute into the debate, came CNN anchorman Bernard Shaw's harsh question positing the rape and murder of Kitty. Dukakis never recovered. He raised only one of the six planned issues. As soon as the debate was over, he marched offstage, looking as if he were about to cry. He knew he had blown it.

9 Bush resists overcoaching, and Ailes keeps him loose for the final debate

George Bush was disconsolate after the first debate. "I missed a lot of opportunities," he told his advisers. He had been stiff, nervous, ineffective, and he knew it. His advisers chose not to humor him. "Don't worry. I'll do better next time," Bush said.