1988: Why did Dukukis pick Lloyd Bensten?

[Dancing with Myself]

Dukakis wanted to appeal to southerners/moderates in the east plus getting a conservative VP might help get the Reagan dems back. He didn't have many choices besides Jackson being loud about it but besides Gore or Clinton Bentsen was a good pick. But the move did reek of Kennedy there, Dukakis was trying to get back to that style of the Democratic party but he wasn't inspiring or legitimate enough  to do it.

Clinton would have been an interesting choice though. He and Duke were good friends and had a lot of respect for each other so they probably could have gotten along good. He would have been as big of a personality as Bentsen was maybe more and he could have helped more in the south possibly. But if they'd lost he would have been known as Dukakis's VP and would have had to shaken that off in 1992.

Then in an alternate universe there could have been a Gore/Clinton ticket for the Dems in 1988; imagine how weird that would have been.