Failed United States presidential candidate Michael Dukakis warns Joe Biden not to take polls too seriously after losing the 1988 election despite being 17 points ahead of George Bush in July
- Michael Dukakis warned that this year’s polls should be studied ‘cautiously’
- The former Massachusetts governor and failed presidential candidate said there is “no guarantee” that Biden will win despite his current leadership.
- Dukakis cited his own experience in the 1988 presidential election against George HW Bush, which saw his numbers drop dramatically
Michael Dukakis warns Joe Biden not to take his current poll leadership too seriously, citing his own depression in the 1988 presidential race as a cautionary tale.
The alleged Democratic candidate is currently running President Trump 50-38, according to a Fox News poll, while data compiled by Real Clear Politics shows that the former vice president is ahead by an average of 8.8 percentage points.
But Dukakis, who was in a similar position during the same time period during the 1988 presidential election against Republican opponent George HW Bush, cautioned that those numbers do not guarantee a victory in November.
‘Particularly this year, [polls] it must be studied with caution, “he told Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam.
Former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis (left) warned that Joe Biden’s current leadership in the polls does not necessarily mean success in November.
Dukakis, who served as Massachusetts governor, had an advantage over Republican opponent George HW Bush in July 1988 before his numbers plummeted after a series of public mistakes and bad press.
“Biden can and should 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 to have his numbers plummet weeks after a series of bad news, the Globe reported.
Among them was the now infamous photo of Dukakis wearing a helmet while aboard a military tank that was later used in an advertisement accusing him of being weak in defense.
A second campaign ad that told the story of Massachusetts prisoner Willie Horton, who killed a woman while he was without permission, described Dukakis as a soft crime.
His ratings actually fell when then-President Ronald Reagan called him an “invalid,” questioning the candidate’s state of mind, which has also become a problem for both Trump and Biden, as they have been criticized for his mental acuity.
President Trump is behind Biden amid his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his response to ongoing national protests.
Republican strategist and Trump campaign adviser Karl Rove said the president needed to move in a new direction ahead of the RNC.
Dukakis recalled that he “dropped eight points” in the week the president made the comments.
“I never took those first few polls seriously,” he told Beam.
Dukakis eventually lost the presidential election to Bush, who won 426 polling station votes at 111.
Before that, he served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991.
Meanwhile, Trump’s position in the polls has dwindled amid his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and protests nationwide.
During a Fox News appearance on Friday, Republican strategist and Trump campaign adviser Karl Rove said the president needed to move in a new direction before the Republican National Convention.
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