I wish Dukakis had won. No Clinton and maybe (though not likely) no Bush.
Dukakis would have been one term. He likely would have dithered when Iraq invaded Kuwait. The higher oil prices combined with the 1991 recession would have doomed the Dem party in 92. Not sure who the GOP nominee would have been. Dole or Kemp most likely.
Possibly, but not definitely. Bush didn't lose because of the recession; he lost because of his perceived indifference to it and his preoccupation with foreign affairs.
Clinton had given the nominating sppech for Dukakis that was embarrassingly long. Gore had admitted to smoking pot in the past, and that was a bigger deal then than it would be now. Personally, if I were Dukakis I would have chosen Bob Graham of Florida or Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, on the grounds that those guys may have expanded the map for Dukakis. But the real reason for his loss was the Dukakis proved to be a terrible campaigner, getting himself tied up in knots over cultural issues that he could well have said one thing and ignored it once elected (e. g. Pledge of Allegiance, flag burning, etc.) In the debate, he could have responded to the death penalty question of "What if your wife was raped?" question with an aggressive response calling out the questioner for dirty pool, and suggesting that in a governor of laws, there can't be one standard for all, and didn't this doofus asking the question realize that. Instead, he got tied up in knots and looked lame.
