which presidential candidate was weaker?

[dazzleman]

Dukakis, because 1988 was a winnable race.  1984 and 1996 weren't really competitive.

did dukakis do better than jesse jackson would have done?  people forget just how close jackson came to winning the nomination.

I think Dukakis definitely did better than Jackson would have done.  Jackson would most likely only have carried Washington DC.  It would have been a 50-state defeat.  A 40-state defeat is better than a 50-state defeat.

[dazzleman]

The 1988 Democratic ticket would have won had Lloyd Bentsen been running for president and Dukakis for veep.

True.

I also agree with that.

The problem is that Bentsen would never have gotten the nomination.  The primary voters were so far left that year that at one point, it looked as if Jesse Jackson might get the nomination, and the Democrats were staring at the prospect of a 50-state defeat.  Only DC voters would have been stupid enough to favor Jackson.