ABSTRACT
Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson also launched their candidacies in part on the assumption that Latinos would support them. Dukakis’s conclusion was based on the assumption that his knowledge of Spanish and empathy for immigrant and non-Anglo culture would endear him to Latinos. Dukakis’s nomination combined with party rules designed to ensure minority representation suggested that Latinos would have a greater voice in all of these matters at the Democratic convention than they had ever enjoyed. Republican interest in Latinos during the campaign was essentially limited to well-crafted and expensive media activities. In any case, the effort to mobilize Latinos remained stillborn or incoherent until the campaign’s final weeks. Given the rhetoric of the Rainbow Coalition, thus, it may be fair to suggest that Jackson’s greatest failure was among Latinos. As 1988 approached, Latino leaders and independent political analysts predicted that Latinos could play a pivotal role in the presidential election.
