Editing Michael Dukakis (section)

===Tank photograph===
[[File:Michael Dukakis in tank.jpg|thumb|right|The photograph of Dukakis in an M1 Abrams tank from the US presidential election of 1988.]]
Dukakis was criticized during the campaign for a perceived softness on defense issues, particularly the controversial "[[Strategic Defense Initiative|Star Wars]]" program, which he promised to weaken. In response to this, Dukakis orchestrated what would become the key image of his campaign, although it turned out quite differently from what he intended. On September 13, 1988, Dukakis visited the [[General Dynamics]] [[General Dynamics Land Systems|Land Systems]] plant in [[Sterling Heights, Michigan]], to take part in a [[photo op]] in an [[M1 Abrams]] tank. The [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], [[Margaret Thatcher]], had been photographed in 1986 riding in a [[Challenger 1|Challenger]] tank while wearing a scarf, which turned out very successfully and helped in her 1987 reelection.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/features/tank.shtml |title=Radio4 – Today/The Fate of Tanks |publisher=BBC.co.uk |date=October 3, 2014 |access-date=April 5, 2015 |archive-date=April 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429025625/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/features/tank.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm10.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801060800/http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm10.html|url-status=dead|title=100 Photographs that Changed the World by Life - The Digital Journalist|archivedate=August 1, 2015|website=digitaljournalist.org}}</ref> General Dynamics protocol requires one to wear the protective helmet for safety and communication when the tank is running at full speed, although Dukakis campaign staffers were aware that a politician putting on any headgear was a faux pas. A member of the press did photograph Dukakis without the helmet when the tank exited the garage at a slow speed, but the rest of the photographers snapped shots of Dukakis wearing a helmet when the tank made a high speed pass.<ref name="tank">{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/dukakis-and-the-tank-099119 |title=Dukakis and the tank |author=King, Josh |work=Politico |date=November 17, 2013 |access-date=March 3, 2020 |archive-date=March 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303230948/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/dukakis-and-the-tank-099119 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBlEOvIBTEs | title=Dukakis and the Tank: The Making of a Political Disaster | website=[[YouTube]] | date=December 3, 2013 | access-date=June 13, 2022 | archive-date=June 13, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613221934/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBlEOvIBTEs | url-status=live }}</ref>

The image of Dukakis wearing a helmet while riding the tank was ridiculed by Bush and the media. The following week, a poll found that 25 percent of respondents said they were less likely to support him because of the tank ride.<ref name="tank"/> Footage of Dukakis in the tank was used in a television ad by the Bush campaign which aired during the [[1988 World Series|World Series]]. The Dukakis campaign produced a 60-second response ad that featured a television set playing Bush's ad, which is flicked off the screen by a finger later revealed to be Dukakis as he proclaims that he is fed up with "George Bush's negative TV ads", but this "pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey advertising"{{what?|date=October 2024}} only ended up drawing further attention to the tank ride.<ref name="tank"/>

The phrase "Dukakis in the tank" remains a shorthand for backfired [[public relations]] outings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.apoliticus.com/2008/11/top-5-political-blunders/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218121839/http://www.apoliticus.com/2008/11/top-5-political-blunders/|url-status=usurped|title=Top 5: Political Blunders|archivedate=2008-12-18|website=apoliticus.com}}</ref> In 2008, when asked about the photograph, Dukakis said "Should I have been in the tank? Probably not, in retrospect. But these days when people ask me, 'Did you get here in a tank?' I always respond by saying, 'No, and I've never [[George H. W. Bush vomiting incident|thrown up all over the Japanese prime minister]]'."<ref name="tank"/>