The 1988 Democratic National Convention was held at

The Omni Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Center. It was ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, from July 18 to 21, 1988, to select candidates for the 1988 presidential election. At the convention

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

was nominated for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and Senator Lloyd Bentsen of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

for

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

. The chair of the convention was

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U ...

Jim Wright.

Speakers

Speakers at the convention included Texas State Treasurer

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, w ...

, 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". This speech was listed as #38 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century.

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

governor

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

gave a very long and widely jeered nomination speech on the opening night that some predicted would ruin his political career,

senator

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

's remarks contained the iteration "Where was George?", and Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Jim Hightower James Allen Hightower (born January 11, 1943) is an American syndicated columnist, progressive political activist, and author. From 1983 to 1991 he served as the elected commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture. He publishes a monthl ...

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

The organizers for the convention chose pastel colors as a background in the belief that they would appear better on television. They were patterned after the colors of the

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

, azure, and eggshell. Republicans mocked the choice and used it to buttress their case that the Democrats were "soft" on the issues. New Jersey governor

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...

claimed at the Republican Convention that "The Dukakis Democrats will try to talk tough, but don't be fooled. They may try to talk like

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFP ...

, but they will still act like

Pee Wee Herman Pee-wee Herman is a comic fictional character created and portrayed by American comedian Paul Reubens. He is best known for his films and television series during the 1980s. The childlike Pee-wee Herman character developed as a stage act that q ...

." Kean continued that Democrats and Republicans alike "have no use for pastel patriotism... The

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Democrats are trying to hide more than the colors in our flag; they are trying to hide their true colors." The theme song for the convention was composed and performed by longtime supporter and folksinger Carly Simon. Entitled ''Turn of the Tide'', this B-side of the hit single ''

Let the River Run "Let the River Run" is a song written, composed, and performed by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, and the theme to the 1988 Mike Nichols film ''Working Girl.'' The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award ...

'' from the

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

motion picture ''

Working Girl ''Working Girl'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols, written by Kevin Wade, and starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Melanie Griffith. Its plot follows an ambitious secretary from Staten Island who t ...

'' was subsequently used a few weeks later in the U.S./Russian co-production of

Marlo Thomas Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her children's franchise '' Free to Be... You and ...

' and Tatiana Vedeneyeva's Emmy-award-winning ABC television special '' Free to Be... a Family'' and was subsequently released on the best selling soundtrack album.

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

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. This would become the tradition.

Platform

Abortion

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

References

External links

Democratic Party Platform of 1988
at ''The American Presidency Project''
Dukakis Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC
(transcript) at ''The American Presidency Project''

Video of Dukakis nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC (via YouTube)

Audio of Dukakis nomination acceptance speech for President at DNC

Video of Bentsen nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC (via YouTube)

Audio of Bentsen nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC

Transcript of Bentsen nomination acceptance speech for Vice President at DNC

Video of Ann Richards' keynote address at Democratic National Convention
{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 Democratic National Convention Democratic National Conventions 1988 United States presidential election Conventions in Atlanta 1980s in Atlanta 1988 in Georgia (U.S. state) Political conventions in Georgia (U.S. state) Democratic Party of Georgia Political events in Georgia (U.S. state) 1988 conferences July 1988 events in the United States