Walter Mondale Michael Dukakis From February 8 to June 14, 1988, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1988 United States presidential election.

[36] Hart had made a strong showing in the 1984 primaries and, after Mondale's defeat in the presidential election, had positioned himself as the moderate centrist many Democrats felt their party would need to win.

However, the allegations of adultery and reports of irregularities in his campaign financing had delivered a fatal blow to his candidacy, and he fared poorly in the early primaries before dropping out again.

Delaware Senator Joe Biden led a highly competitive campaign which ended in controversy after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party.

Though Biden professed his integrity, the impression lingering in the media as the result of this double punch would lead him to drop out of the race.

The Delaware Supreme Court's Board on Professional Responsibility would later clear Biden of the law school plagiarism charges.

The Dukakis nominating speech delivered by Arkansas governor and future president Bill Clinton was widely criticized as too long and tedious.

During the vice-presidential debate, Republican candidate and Senator Dan Quayle ignored a head-on confrontation with Bentsen (aside from the "Jack Kennedy" comparison) and spent his time attacking Dukakis.