https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/11/12/great-moments-in-presidential-debates-1988/ Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:51:22 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/11/12/great-moments-in-presidential-debates-1988/#comment-17464 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:51:22 +0000 http://freethoughtblogs.com/xblog/?p=1248#comment-17464 I agree 100% with everything you said. The Republicans pushed a new strategy (or a remade version of one anyway) and it worked fabulously for them.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/11/12/great-moments-in-presidential-debates-1988/#comment-17463 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:28:28 +0000 http://freethoughtblogs.com/xblog/?p=1248#comment-17463 I always thought Dukakis should have gotten angry at the question, responding with something like “hey, I answered your question. I’m against the death penalty. You’re just being morbid, you sick bastard.”
Dukakis got criticized for some other stuff that shouldn’t have been an issue, either–like going back to Massachusetts after the convention to take care of governor business–you know, doing his job. Also, the famous tank picture really wasn’t much of an issue, or shouldn’t have been.
I also feel like this was the election where the republicans really started to make issues over pointless shows of patriotism, like the pledge of allegiance, flag burning and so forth, as well as trying to make the ACLU sound like some radical, un-American organization and equating “liberal” with “unpatriotic.” It was the beginning of the “real American” trope so prevalent among conservatives today. As vapid as Reagan’s campaigns were, he never pissed me off as much as G.H.W. Bush.

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