Failed Presidential contender, Michael Dukakis is warning Joe Biden not to take his current lead in the polls too seriously, citing his own majestic failure in the 1988 presidential race as a cautionary tale.
The presumptive Democratic nominee is currently leading President Trump 50-38, according to a Fox News poll, while data compiled by Real Clear Politics shows the former vice president is ahead by an average of 8.8 percentage points.
Michael Dukakis warns Biden to ignore the polls:' https://t.co/MC9utskpLp #FoxNews@realDonaldTrump @marklevinshow POLSTERS TRYING TO MAKE THE OLD GUY FEEL GOOD. “I HAD IT IN THE GRASPS OF MY HAND FOR A LITTLE WHILE. THEN PLOOF IT VANISHED. What happened?? 2016 happened! ????
— Sissi David (@sissidavidwho) July 4, 2020
But Dukakis, who was in a similar position in the same time period during the 1988 presidential election against Republican opponent George HW Bush, has warned those numbers don’t guarantee a victory in November.
‘Particularly this year, [polls] should be studied cautiously,’ he told Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam.
‘Biden could win, but being at 50, no matter how weak your opponent is, is no guarantee of success.’
The former Massachusetts governor had been leading Bush by a 55-38 margin in July 1988, only for his numbers to plummet weeks later following a series of bad press, the Globe reported.
Good advice from Dukakis. https://t.co/vWWlSBuI9x
— BP ? (@PeckPolitics) July 5, 2020
Among them was the now-infamous photo of Dukakis wearing a helmet while aboard a military tank that was then used in an ad accusing him of being weak on defense.
A second campaign advertisement which told the story of Massachusetts prisoner Willie Horton, who killed a woman while he was out on furlough, depicted Dukakis as being soft on crime.
His ratings really took a tumble when then-President Ronald Reagan called him an ‘invalid’, questioning the candidate’s mental state – which has also become an issue for Biden, as he has been criticized over his mental capacity.
Dukakis recalled ‘dropping eight points’ in the week the president made the comments.
Some speculate however, president Trump would bow-out of the race around Labor Day if the polls do not show a shift.
In the event the president does step down, Vice-President Mike Pence would probably pick-up the mantle for the MAGA campaign in hopes that a lucid Vice President would make a better president than one who is surrounded by questions of his mental acuity.
The issue of mental sharpness is something that has affected Biden.
Dukakis ultimately lost his election to Bush, who won 426 electoral college votes while he only won 111.
Before Dukakis ran for president, he served as Massachusetts’ governor for multiple terms, once from 1975 to 1979, and for the second time from 1983 to 1991.
