The 1988 Presidential Election In The South

The results of the 1988 elections affirmed the strength of the Republican party in the South on both the Presidential and statewide levels. This decisive victory and its ramifications throughout the region are the focus of this volume which seeks to illuminate the important events relevant to the 1988 elections in the South and identify the resulting trends in political activity which will characterize future developments. Special attention is given to the presidential election, the elements which determined its outcome and its effect upon the national strength of both parties, but the significance of lower level contests are also considered. The text is arranged to provide both a Southwide analysis and a state-by-state review. Regional studies outline the political history relevant to the 1988 elections, and follow the concurrent nomination races. Each state chapter furnishes information which highlights the unique political complexion of the state being discussed and also shows how its character fits into the overall picture of a constantly changing Southern political profile. By presenting both an overview of the South as a political entity and a close-up study of the variety of its constituents, this volume proves a valuable addition to the literature which projects the future of Southern politics.

This fourth in a series of election reports by Pomper and others affiliated with the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University is indispensible reading for an informed electorate. Its wealth of statistics and cogent analysis throughout make it invaluable to professionals as well. Chapters cover the Reagan heritage; 1988 as a continuation of the recent past nominating process for Presidents; voter expectations of candidates; media aversion for issues; the election as mandate and/or realignment for Bush and the Republicans; the Congressional 1988 elections as a case study in continuity; and the election as proof for the Democratic party that it can not live off of the JFK legacy any longer. Such thorough analysis so soon after the election is laudable and noteworthy. Highly recommended.-- Frank Kessler, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph -Library Journal.

Upon the 2018 death of George H. W. Bush, pundits and politicians mourned the passing of an exemplar of the statesmanship and bipartisan ethos of an earlier day. The judgment, though sound, would have shocked observers of the 1988 election that put Bush in the White House. From a scholar who played a small role in that long-ago election, After Reagan provides an eye-opening look at a presidential campaign that few suspected marked the end of an era—or the rise of forces roiling our political landscape today. Willie Horton. “Read my lips: No new taxes.” Michael Dukakis in a helmet, in a tank. Though these are remembered as pivotal moments in a presidential campaign recalled as whisker-close, in his book John J. Pitney Jr. reminds us how large Bush’s victory actually was, and how much it depended on social conditions and political dynamics that would change dramatically in the coming years. A turning point toward the post–Cold War, hyper-partisan, culturally divided politics of our time, the election of 1988 took place in a very different world. After Reagan captures a moment when campaigns were funded from the federal Treasury; when Republicans had a lock on the presidency and Democrats controlled Congress; when the electorate was considerably whiter and less educated than today’s; and when the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union—and the subsequent rise of globalization—were virtually unimaginable. Many books tell us that elections have consequences. Pitney’s explains how campaigns are consequential—the 1988 campaign more than most. From the perspective of the last thirty years, After Reagan shows us the 1988 election in a truly new light—one that, in turn, reveals the links between the campaign of 1988 and the politics of the twenty-first century.

This is the third of a series of studies of presidential election politics in the South (the first two addressing the 1984 and 1988 elections, respectively). It examines the nomination process in the region, presents a state-by-state analysis of the 1992 presidential election results, and offers some general conclusions regarding contemporary developments in southern electoral and party politics. The volume presents election data of interest to students of presidential elections, the U.S. party system, and southern politics. As such, the work represents a significant contribution to the literature on partisan politics in the South.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, Free University of Berlin, language: English, abstract: George H.W. Bush George Bush, a New England aristocrat partially transplanted to Texas, entered politics after almost two decades in the oil business. He was born on 12 June 1924 in Massachusetts, and grew up in a wealthy New York suburb. Bush followed his father's example in switching from financial success in business to politics. He was and unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Texas in 1964 and 1970, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1966 and again in 1968. After losing the race for the Senate in 1970, Bush was appointed by Presidents Nixon and Ford to a succession of important positions: U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the RNC, liaison to China, and director of the CIA. In January 1977 Bush resigned as head of the CIA and returned to Texas, where he began campaigning for the presidency in 1978. However, he lost the nomination to the more glamorous and conservative Ronald Reagan, who later picked him to be his running mate for the office of vice-president. The Reagan-Bush ticket won easily in 1980, and 1984. Michael Dukakis Michael Dukakis's political strength, and the reason he won the Democratic nomination in 1988, was the fact that very different kinds of Democrats and liberals could project their hopes onto him. At heart, the Governor of Massachusetts was an old-style Democrat. Dukakis's style was that of the upper-middle-class reformers who were now so important to the Democratic nominating process. Yet Dukakis was also a Greek American, the "son of immigrants," as he would say over and over. His approach to government was intensely serious and mistrustful of politics-as-usual.

This volume is the fifth in a series of analyses of elections in the South beginning with the 1984 general elections and continuing in 1988, 1992, and 1996. While the presidential election has been the focus, other important aspects of contemporary Southern electoral politics have also been examined, including congressional and state elections as well as the overall status of party development and competition in each Southern state. Steed and Moreland continue the general organization plan of the previous publications in this volume, beginning with an introductory chapter on general issues and background, a chapter on presidential primaries, an examination of the particular issues of the 2000 presidential election, and a look at religion and Southern politics. Experts on the individual states then analyze the contests in each state, and the volume concludes with a summary of the lessons to be gained from the 2000 election cycle. An definitive work for all scholars, students, and researchers involved with contemporary Southern politics and presidential elections.