The Nation - News from Nov. 21, 1988

Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale said that the campaigns run by both presidential candidates this year were “a disgrace” and turned out “worse than I originally thought.” In an interview published in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Mondale said the campaigns of George Bush and Michael S. Dukakis made him “feel sick.” He said part of the blame should go to television, which revealed more about campaign media handlers than about the candidates themselves. “There is no substance,” Mondale said of the campaign. “The candidates are hidden. You don’t get to ask questions. The negatives have taken over and it’s mud every night.” Mondale called for more frequent and longer debates than the two that were held this year, in which he said Bush and Dukakis delivered scripted lines and ignored substantive questions.