George Bush Also Rode in a Tank in '88

"George Bush was in a tank three times during that campaign!"

                           - Michael Dukakis

Former Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis pointed this out to me in an interview 5 years ago while explaining how the imfamous "tank ad" that the Bush campaign ran against him - but I'd never been able to find any images, until now.

Here's an excerpt from our interview:

ME: Tell me about the--the tank advertisement.

DUKAKIS: It wasn’t an ad -- well, look; I was in a tank. George Bush was in a tank three times during that campaign! As I often say kidding these days, I’ve never thrown up all over the Japanese Prime Minister. I mean you know these things happen... But I didn’t lose because of the tanks; you know I lost because I didn’t run a very good final campaign.

DUKAKIS: I let myself be defined by my opponent rather than doing the kind of job you have to do--first to blunt those kinds of attacks...

DUKAKIS: If I had a nickel for everybody who has come up to me since 1988 and said you know you’re nothing like the guy we thought we were looking at in 1988--I’d be a millionaire.

Bill Maher with Reagan, Ferraro and Dukakis

Two ridiculous scenes from the little known 1991 film, Pizza Man, which features a 35 year-old Bill Maher and an assortment of 1980's politicians. In the first scene, Maher walks in on Ronald Reagan and Geraldine Ferraro having an affair and in the second he hitchhikes with Michael Dukakis. Enjoy:

Flashback: The Kennedy Nixon Debate in 1960

Mike Dukakis, John Zogby and Ken Walsh talk about the first Kennedy Nixon debate in 1960:

1988 Presidential Debate: The "Kitty Dukakis" Question

Democratic Presidential Candidate Michael Dukakis famously stumbled when asked a very personal question about his wife, Kitty Dukakis, during the second 1988 Presidential Debate. Challenging the governor on his opposition to the death penalty, Bernard "Bernie" Shaw asked, "if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?" Dukakis' unemotional reply didn't seem to acknowledge the gravity of the question and thus the "Kitty Dukakis" question went down in history as a campaign blunder. In this video, The Daily Caller's Tucker Carlson tells the story and former candidate Michael Dukakis explains why he reacted as he did.