Michael Dukakis was a Democrat candidate running for President in 1988. He had previously been criticized as being soft on national defense, so in September of that year he orchestrated a photo op in an M1 Abrams tank meant to toughen up his image.

The public found the image of Dukakis in the oversized safety helmet comical, and the photo op had the opposite of the intended effect of making him look tough. So much so that his opponent, George H.W. Bush used footage of Dukakis’ tank ride in his own advertisements.

Photo source.

Wikipedia.

  • Waldowal@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Election losers and how they lost:

    • Dukakis - Tank picture
    • George Bush Sr - “No new taxes, 1000 points of light, and potatoe”
    • Bob Dole - holding a pencil weird
    • Ross Perot - big ears and too many charts
    • Al Gore - “Lockbox”
    • John Kerry - Flip-flopper
    • John McCain - “Maverick” and “dontchaknow Palin”
    • Mitt Romney - Mormon
    • Hillary Clinton - “Pokémon Go To the Polls” (plus Russian led disinformation campaign to paint her as an unlikable bitch)

    Then there’s: Trump - sleeps with prostitutes, promotes “grabbing women by the pussy”, openly racist, praises world dictators, makes fun of handicapped people - wins election.

    • Delphia@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Now I’m Australian so what I saw might not have been the full picture but it felt like Hillary ran a lazy campaign at least from the international coverage.

      I dont remember a single specific thing about it, no policies, platforms or sound bytes. It wasnt memorable. What I do remember was mostly commentary about how she was clearly better than Trump. It felt like she expected to win on name recognition and because he was so clearly wrong for the job.

      Just my thoughts, I have no doubt there was medding but I also dont think she played a strong game either.

      • teamevil@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        That was her problem, she basically figured it was her “turn” after Obama and then all she had to beat was that moron Trump. Technically she did have more votes it our stupid electoral college system let him win more electoral votes. She did absolutely suck and there needs to be better options in this country.

      • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Yea her campaign was “I’m not trump, and I did decent under Obama” unfortunately those two statements were a major problem for what appears to be nearly half the voting population

    • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Russian led disinformation campaign to paint her as an unlikable bitch

      Are you saying she isn’t an unlikable bitch?

      Also don’t forget the balloon drop reaction.

    • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Ross Perot - big ears and too many charts

      Ross Perot was never going to win. Especially after dropping out then rejoining. He said dirty tricks party threatened to out his daughter which came off weak instead of just saying “Republicans”

      Al Gore - Bragger

      It was Al Gore is a bragger for saying he invented the Internet. Which he didn’t say, and Vint Cerf repeatedly defended Al Gore as the only politician who saw the potential of the Internet and worked to make it happen.

      Mitt Romney - Binders full of women