Tonight, Chris Matthews actually said on Hardball something I agree with regarding the race for the White House: “I’ve seen this race before, back in 1988.”

It seems for months we’ve been hearing wistful comparisons of 2008 to 1968, with liberals clamoring for the end of an unpopular war and a McCarthy-esque intellectual leading the way. Some are even raring for a 1968-type civil disobedience meltdown between demonstrators and the police (I can’t vouch for rumors about organizers supplying free Geritol for the warmed over aged hippies) at next weeks Democrat National Convention in Denver.

Instead this year’s lead-up to the election feels more like 20 years ago, rather than 40. In 1988, the once-popular Pres. Reagan had seen his approval rating drop after Iran-Contra came to light. The excitement for his VP and the Republican candidate George H.W. Bush was muted. Meanwhile there was incredible hype and excitement for the Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. That was the first campaign that I remember what is now called a “convention bump.” But any lead was soon squelched as Dukakis was successfully branded as a Massachusetts liberal and a card-carrying member of the ACLU (proudly self-identified); then there was the video of his time in the Abrams tank, with his head poking out.

Gov. Dukakis in an Abrams tank-1988

Add to all of that the questions regarding his patriotism, since the Governor had opposed the mandatory reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Sound familiar?

Of course everyone remembers how 1988 turned out: Poppy Bush won 40 states, including California, and Illinois. Dukakis won 10, with the electoral count 426-111.

Maybe the difference between 1988 and 1968 doesn’t matter since it was Republican Nixon with the electoral landslide forty years ago: 301 to Humphrey’s 191, with George Wallace getting 46 electoral votes.

Either way, if history repeats itself, its increasingly possible the Presidential gold metal will elude Sen. Obama.