Tanner '88 - Season 1

On the weekend before the New Hampshire primary, Congressman Jack Tanner and his daughter visit with potential voters, while his first campaign commercial is evaluated by a focus group.

Tanner's passionate "For Real" commercial generates new interest in his campaign as he heads for Nashville. There, an apparent attempt on his life produces publicity and qualifies him for Secret Service protection.

Jack seeks the advice of an old friend, a civil rights activist, about how to reach African American voters.

After offending his friend, a Baptist minister, with an attempt at an impromptu press conference on the steps of the church, the campaign begins to freeze out media manager Stringer. At the same time, Tanner and his daughter must learn to cope with the constant protective presence of Secret Service agents and Berkoff interviews Tanner's father, exposing an unusual family dynamic.

Tanner meets with fellow candidate Bruce Babbitt, who recently ended his campaign. Tired of being on the outs with the campaign, Stringer considers joining the Dukakis campaign where he discovers Tanner's girlfriend Joanna is a staff member.

Tanner attends campaign events ranging from appearances at day care centers--where he talks to young children about tax abatements--and a Hollywood pool party. Afterward, a recently dismissed member of the Dukakis campaign approaches Tanner for a job, exposing Tanner's television and speech weaknesses.

Tanner attends a debate with Dukakis and Jesse Jackson where his comments about drugs become news. Mechanical troubles on the campaign plane lead to a stressful flight for everyone. Later, a reporter breaks the story on Tanner and Joanna's relationship, angering T.J., who did not know about it.

The campaign runs into problem after problem when they head to Detroit, including Tanner looking bad when "confronted" by a robot and looking bad kissing babies on camera. Meanwhile David Seidelman, the reporter who broke the Tanner/Joanna story, finds himself in the campaign's doghouse. Later, Tanner spends an afternoon at a Detroit community meeting speaking to people about drugs and America's future.

Alex plans Jack and Joanna's wedding, stressing over the minutest of details, only to have them call it off after General Tanner makes an inappropriate speech and Deke Conners swoops over the proceedings in a helicopter. Afterward, despite his being nearly out of the race, the campaign reads an article speculating on Tanner's would-be cabinet appointments.

Having both lost at the Democratic National Convention, the Jackson and Tanner campaigns try some last minute trickery, with T.J. calling in coordinator Billy Ridenour to work some "backroom magic". Unfortunately, the Jackson campaign's need for plausible deniability prevents Ridenour from speaking directly to Jackson and winds up costing Tanner.

Despite not winning the Democratic nomination and his former campaign's finances now being audited, rumblings of Tanner running as third party circulate through what is left of the campaign. T.J. investigates the possibilities and the series ends with Jack not answering Joanna's query that it would be obvious for him to endorse Michael Dukakis and instead ruminates on his possibilities.