Dukakis had this strange idea that he was JFK's Second Coming-a Massachusetts politician with a Texan running-mate launching a Democratic renaissance after eight years of Republican plague. Since Carter had crashed so spectacularly, and an 1964-style victory impossible, Kennedy seemed the model to follow. Democrats only wrote off the South after 2000, and early on Dukakis was actually competitive in border states.
Dukakis didnt think he was gonna win South, he did good in Ia and WI. He thought he would duplicate the midwest strategy that Carter did well in as well as OH.
The Elder Bush overperformed among female voters, and Kitty Dukakis did Dukakis no favors, too.
