- Joined
- Oct 1, 2022
Bob doesn't understand why the Dukakis tank image was an embarrassing misstep for his campaign. It wasn't because he looked "stupid" in the tank. It was because he was trying to pander and create an image of something he wasn't. Despite being a veteran of the military himself, Dukakis didn't have the resume and image that Bush Sr. had in regards to his service. He was trying to create this image of him being some sort of tough, hardened bad ass that was going to take on any threat.Also, the tank photo was far from the Dukakis campaign's biggest misstep. Ask Bob about Willie Horton. Just make sure he doesn't have access to Wikipedia before he answers. (PS. The Wikipedia article is full of lefty bullshit, but it captures the essence of what happened.)
It was obvious to voters that this portrayal wasn't really who he was. Trump is himself proof that voters don't like being pandered to with a fake image of who you are. Sometimes you won't have the personality traits needed to win people over, but trying to be fake is an automatic turn off.
To tie into that, part of the issue too was that one of the things he was being hammered on during the campaign was being weak on defense issues due to a couple of stances he had. The tank photo was supposed to counter that. Instead, people probably viewed him as being more weak since he caved and responded to the pressure the second it was put on him by the opposition.
It is also worth pointing out that another reason why it looked bad for him was because he was just lazily copying something that Margaret Thatcher had done during her involvement in politics in the United Kingdom.
