Miscellaneous, Non-Frivolous ASB Ideas

As another cross-time election between losing candidates, ‘1988 Michael Dukakis Vs. 2008 John McCain’.

Why, if I might ask? Obviously, there can be only one, but they both seem like weak candidates to the point where Dukakis would have an easier time against McCain than George Bush Sr. IOTL 1988.

Uh-huh. ...Well, I suppose McCain, paired with the fact that he’s a military man, would no doubt bring up Dukakis’s goofy tank-riding stunt more than once and contrast it with McCain’s own record of service.

Though, how McCain would respond to Dukakis pointing out his tendency to want to bomb and send troops to many other countries (as well as sing about bombing Iran to the tune of Barbara Ann once), I don’t know.

Mm'kay. What about Dukakis deflecting and running attack ads featuring McCain's calls for military adventurism in a slew of other countries, especially since Bush's bungling of the Iraq War would be on voters' minds as well?

Perhaps, though I wouldn't call the Cold War era, in which nuclear armageddon was at stake and both spheres of influence jockeyed for supremacy through proxy wars and other dirty tricks, more stable. Even if the enemy was easier to spot and quash, whereas twenty-first century terrorists employ more insidious tactics and the power of ideas to wreck their havoc. Which lends further credence to your point, I suppose.

As such, that makes me wonder if Dukakis would have a plan to, say, clean up Bush's mess and avoid further destabilization of the Middle East (which McCain seems like the type to double down on, even though voters might see him as the more confident and rock-solid on foreign policy)?

Well NATO is now at the Soviet border.