1988 Republican and Democratic Presidential Primaries 

Six major Republican candidates ran for the party's presidential nomination, seeking to succeed President Ronald Reagan: Vice President George Bush, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (KS), former Gov. Pete du Pont (DE), former Secretary of State Al Haig, U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp (NY) and CBN founder and chairman Pat Robertson.  du Pont (Sept. 16, 1986) was first in, followed by Kemp (Mar. 6), Haig (Mar. 24), Robertson (Oct. 2), Bush (Oct. 12) and Dole (Nov. 9).  Early exits were Haig (Feb. 12) and du Pont (Feb. 18); Kemp, Robertson and Dole withdrew before the convention.

Major Democratic candidates vying for their party's nomination included: former Gov. Bruce Babbitt (AZ), Sen. Joe Biden (DE), Gov. Michael Dukakis (MA), U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt (MO), U.S. Sen. Al Gore (TN), former Sen. Gary Hart (CO), civil rights leader and activist Jesse Jackson, and Sen. Paul Simon (IL).  The field took shape in 1987: Gephardt (Feb. 23), Babbitt (Mar. 10), Dukakis (Mar. 16), Hart (Apr. 13), Simon (May 18), Biden (June 9), Gore (June 29), Jackson (Oct. 10), and Hart re-entry (Dec. 20).  There were several early exits: Hart suspended his campaign on May 8, 1987 (but re-entered in Dec.) and Biden withdrew on Sept. 23, 1987. The primaries further thinned the field in 1988 as Babbitt (Feb. 16), Gephardt (Mar. 29), Simon (Apr. 7) and Gore (Apr. 21) exited, leaving Dukakis and Jackson to go on to the convention.

Below are some examples of literature from the 1988 primary campaigns.  See also the excellent: www.4president.org/ocmi1988.htm