Bush's three main opponents in the 1988 Republican Party presidential primaries were Senator Bob Dole (R-KS); Pat Robertson, an evangelist; and Representative Jack Kemp (R-NY).

[3] In that year's Iowa caucus, held on February 8, 1988, Bush finished in third, behind winner Dole and runner-up Robertson.

Bush's support then began to deteriorate, partly because former Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. had recently endorsed Dole.

[1][4] Bush's campaign focused on building a "Firewall" in the Southern United States, a strategy that proved successful after he won multiple primaries there on March 8.

[5] Subsequently, Bush became the probable Republican nominee, completing a transformation of his status from loser to front-runner in 29 days.

On the convention's second day, Bush announced that he had chosen Senator Dan Quayle (R-IN) as his running mate.

[10] By the end of the convention, Bush had increased his poll numbers to comfortably surpass those of Dukakis, and he went on to maintain that lead during the rest of his campaign.