View source for 1988 Democratic National Convention

{{short description|U.S. political event held in Atlanta, Georgia}}
{{Infobox National Political Convention
| logo = 1988 DNC logo -1.jpg
| logo_size = 180px
| year = 1988
| party = Democratic
| date = July 18–21, 1988
| image = DPDukakis1988.png
| image_size =125
| image2 = DPBentsen1988.png
| image_size2 =125
| caption = Nominees <br /> Dukakis and Bentsen
| venue = [[The Omni]]
| city = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
| keynote_speaker = [[Ann Richards]]
| speakers = [[Ted Kennedy]]<br />[[Bill Clinton]]<br />[[Jim Hightower]]<br />[[Jimmy Carter]]<br/>[[Jesse Jackson]]
| presidential_nominee = [[Michael Dukakis]] of [[Massachusetts]]
| vice_presidential_nominee = [[Lloyd Bentsen]] of [[Texas]]
| ballots = 1
| totaldelegates = 4,105
| votesneeded = 2,054
| presidenttotals = [[Michael Dukakis|Dukakis]] ([[Massachusetts|MA]]): 2,877 (70.09%)<br />[[Jesse L. Jackson|Jackson]] ([[District of Columbia|DC]]): 1,219 (29.70%)<br />[[Richard H. Stallings|Stallings]] ([[Idaho|ID]]): 3 (0.07%)<br />[[Joe Biden|Biden]] ([[Delaware|DE]]): 2 (0.05%)<br />[[Dick Gephardt|Gephardt]] ([[Missouri|MO]]): 2 (0.05%)<br />[[Lloyd Bentsen|Bentsen]] ([[Texas|TX]]): 1 (0.02%)<br />[[Gary Warren Hart|Hart]] ([[Colorado|CO]]): 1 (0.02%)
| previous_year = 1984
| next_year = 1992
}}
The '''1988 Democratic National Convention''' was held at [[The Omni]] in [[Atlanta]], Georgia, from July 18 to 21, 1988, to select candidates for the [[1988 United States presidential election|1988 presidential election]]. At the convention [[List of Governors of Massachusetts|Governor]] [[Michael Dukakis]] of [[Massachusetts]] was nominated for [[President of the United States|president]] and [[United States Senator|Senator]] [[Lloyd Bentsen]] of [[Texas]] for [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]].  The chair of the convention was [[Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Jim Wright]].

==Speakers==
[[File:Omni Coliseum 1977.jpg|thumb|[[Omni Coliseum|The Omni]] was the site of the 1988 Democratic National Convention]]
Speakers at the convention included [[Texas State Treasurer]] [[Ann Richards]], who gave a keynote speech that put her in the public spotlight and included the line that [[George H. W. Bush]] was "born with a silver foot in his mouth". [[Arkansas]] governor [[Bill Clinton]] gave a very long and widely jeered nomination speech on the opening night that some predicted would ruin his political career,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kornacki |first=Steve |url=https://www.salon.com/2012/07/30/when_bill_clinton_died_on_stage/ |title=When Bill Clinton died onstage |date=July 30, 2012 |work=Salon |access-date=March 19, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> [[Massachusetts]] senator [[Ted Kennedy]]'s remarks contained the iteration "Where was George?", and [[Texas Agriculture Commissioner]] [[Jim Hightower]] called Bush "a toothache of a man."

In one of the subsequent presidential debates, when questioned about the general alleged "negativity" of the campaign, Bush cited the ''ad hominem'' attacks against him at the convention as the root cause.

==Production==
[[File:Michael Dukakis 1988 DNC.jpg|thumb|Dukakis speaking at the convention]]

The organizers for the convention chose [[pastel color]]s as a background in the belief that they would appear better on television.  They were patterned after the colors of the [[American flag]] in [[salmon (color)|salmon]], [[Azure (color)|azure]], and [[eggshell (color)|eggshell]].<ref name="timespastel">{{cite news |first=R. W. |last=Apple |author-link=R. W. Apple, Jr. |title=The Republicans in New Orleans; Bush Chooses Senator Quayle of Indiana, A 41-Year-Old Conservative, For No. 2 Spot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/17/us/republicans-new-orleans-bush-chooses-senator-quayle-indiana-41-year-old.html?pagewanted=all  |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=1988-08-17 |access-date=2008-03-06 }}</ref>  Republicans mocked the choice and used it to buttress their case that the Democrats were "soft" on the issues.<ref>{{cite news |title=Democrats sell themselves as party of strength at every opportunity |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-07-27-strong-slogan_x.htm |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=2004-07-27 |access-date=2008-03-06 }}</ref>  New Jersey governor [[Thomas Kean]] claimed at the [[1988 Republican National Convention|Republican Convention]] that "The Dukakis Democrats will try to talk tough, but don't be fooled.  They may try to talk like [[Dirty Harry]], but they will still act like [[Pee Wee Herman]]."  Kean continued that Democrats and Republicans alike "have no use for pastel [[patriotism]]...  The [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] Democrats are trying to hide more than the colors in our flag; they are trying to hide their true colors."<ref name="timespastel" />

The theme song for the convention was composed and performed by longtime supporter and folksinger [[Carly Simon]] originally for the [[1984 Democratic National Convention |'84 DNC]] with different verses. Entitled "Turn of the Tide", the original version was accompanied by many of the famous folk singers, soft rockers and other light-adult-contemporary stars of the period. Originally available only on a limited run single-sided promotional 45 RPM record along with the matching program and other memorabilia, this version with the new verses for 1988 was released primarily as the B-side of the hit single "[[Let the River Run]]" from the [[20th Century Fox]] motion picture ''[[Working Girl]]'' and was also used a few months later in the U.S./Russian co-production of [[Marlo Thomas]]' and [[Tatiana Vedeneyeva]]'s Emmy Award-winning ABC television special ''[[Free to Be... a Family]]''. Finally, the cut closed out the award-winning soundtrack album on A&M Records, Cassettes and CDs.

==Results==
A number of candidates withdrew from the race at the start of the convention as the rules stated that delegates won by withdrawn candidates could be replaced.  The final contest for the nomination was between Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson.

===Presidential nomination===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! colspan="3" | Democratic National Convention presidential vote, 1988<ref>{{cite web |url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/880621convention-dem-ra.html |title=Democrats Acclaim Dukakis and Assert Unity |website=partners.nytimes.com |access-date=April 4, 2013}}</ref>
|-
! style="width: 17em" |Candidate
! style="width: 5em" |Votes
! style="width: 7em" |Percentage
|-
| '''[[Michael Dukakis]]'''
| align="right" | 2,877
| align="right" | 70.09%
|-
| [[Jesse Jackson]]
| align="right" | 1,219
| align="right" | 29.70%
|-
| [[Richard Stallings]]
| align="right" | 3
| align="right" | 0.07%
|-
| [[Joe Biden]] 
| align="right" | 2
| align="right" | 0.05%
|-
| [[Dick Gephardt]]
| align="right" | 2
| align="right" | 0.05%
|-
|[[Lloyd Bentsen]]
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 0.25%
|-
|[[Gary Hart]]
| align="right" | 1
| align="right" | 0.25%
|-
|-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
| align="right" | '''Totals'''
| align="right" | '''4,162'''
| align="right" | '''100.00%'''
|}

====Vice presidential nomination====
With Jackson's supporters demanding that he receive the vice-presidential nomination as his reward for coming in second, the Dukakis campaign decided to nominate Senator Bentsen by voice vote, rather than a roll call.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/CRAS-023-01-03?journalCode=cras|title=The Failure of Jesse Jackson's Vice-Presidential Quest: Sailing Against Political Tradition|first=George C.|last=Riser|date=1 September 1992|journal=Canadian Review of American Studies|volume=23|issue=1|pages=39–54|doi=10.3138/cras-023-01-03|url-access=subscription}}</ref> This would become the tradition.

== Platform ==

=== Abortion ===
The platform added "the fundamental right of [[reproductive choice]] should be guaranteed regardless of ability to pay".

==See also==
* [[1987 Libertarian National Convention]]
* [[1988 Republican National Convention]]
* [[1988 United States presidential election]]
* [[History of the United States Democratic Party]]
* [[List of Democratic National Conventions]]
* [[United States presidential nominating convention]]
* [[1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries]]
* [[Michael Dukakis 1988 presidential campaign]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29609 Democratic Party Platform of 1988] at ''The American Presidency Project''
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25961 Dukakis Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC] (transcript) at ''The American Presidency Project''
* [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/annrichards1988dnc.htm Complete text and audio of Ann Richards' Keynote Address]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9__LJ9EFcbg Video of Dukakis nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC (via YouTube)]
* [http://convert2mp3.net/en/index.php?p=tags&id=youtube_9__LJ9EFcbg&key=pUFRoGvRJ6gc Audio of Dukakis nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC]{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rpDIM7LEk0 Video of Bentsen nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC (via YouTube)]
* [http://convert2mp3.net/en/index.php?p=tags&id=youtube_3rpDIM7LEk0&key=SMMLjLC4nYx9 Audio of Bentsen nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC]{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-22-mn-7475-story.html Transcript of Bentsen nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtIFhiqS_TY Video of Ann Richards' keynote address at Democratic National Convention]

{{sequence|
 prev=[[1984 Democratic National Convention|1984]]<br />[[San Francisco, California]]|
 list=[[Democratic National Convention]]s|
 next=[[1992 Democratic National Convention|1992]]<br />[[New York, New York]]
}}

{{United States presidential election, 1988}}
{{Democratic National Convention}}
{{Atlanta history}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 Democratic National Convention}}
[[Category:Democratic National Conventions]]
[[Category:1988 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Conventions in Atlanta]]
[[Category:1980s in Atlanta]]
[[Category:1988 in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Conventions in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Political events in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Democratic Party of Georgia]]
[[Category:1988 conferences]]
[[Category:July 1988 in the United States]]
[[Category:Jesse Jackson]]
[[Category:Michael Dukakis]]
[[Category:Lloyd Bentsen]]
[[Category:Joe Biden]]
[[Category:1980s political conferences]]