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I'm currently reading "What it Takes" by Richard Ben Cramer. It's a look at six of the candidates who ran for the Presidency that year and is a chronicle of their experiences as candidates, their backgrounds, and their personalities.
I'm about a third of the way through it, and it's an interesting read.
It also got me thinking of my own memories of the 1988 campaign. The book hasn't gotten to any of these points yet, but this is the stuff I was able to recall without prompting:
1. Dole to Bush: "Stop lyin' about my record!'
2. Dukakis in the army tank.
3. Willie Horton.
4. Donna Rice.
5. Joe Biden's plagiarism.
6. CNN's Bernard Shaw asking a debate question: "If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered..."
7. Dukakis' lame response to that question.
8. A hyperactive Dan Quayle being introduced as the VP candidate.
9. "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
The book, by the way, has an opening that's relevant to this forum. It shows us a behind-the-scenes look at what was involved in getting Bush in place to throw out the first pitch at 1986's NLCS Game 1 at the Astrodome. It also describes the VP's son, George W. Bush, throwing a hissy fit when he didn't like the seats that he and Laura were given.
The book was written in 1992, by the way.
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