Historical Events in Donnie Darko

The unique film Donnie Darko takes place in the year 1988. This particular year had a lot of relevance on our country's political history. The year of 1988 was when the Bush vs. Dukakis election campaign took place.
Nicholas Katers, the author of the article "Election of 1988:Bush, Dukakis, and the Liberal Democratic Failure," is a history graduate and has published work in published in SEAC's Threshold magazine, Generationvote.com, Internationalist Magazine, and ten academic works. This particular article was published on www.associatedcontent.com, which is a site for various types of media.
The election campaign of Bush vs. Dukakis not only took place in the time period that Donnie Darko is set in, but there is a scene in the movie where Mr. Darko, Donnie's father, is watching the election campaign debate on television. Even though this is the only scene that visually displays the Bush vs. Dukakis election campaign, the film sends a message about the politics of 1988.
The article, "Election of 1988:Bush, Dukakis, and the Liberal Democratic Failure," discusses the conflict and hostility that was present throughout the fight for presidency. Nicholas Katers states that

"Bush, no stranger to negative campaigning, took every opportunity to discredit Dukakis as a dangerous and radical liberal."

Bush played a very competitive role in order to win the position of presidency. According to the opinion of Nicholas Katers

"Dukakis attempted to play the role of patriot by riding in a tank but he looked more like a little boy playing general than a potential commander in chief. Dukakis’ attempt to walk the line between liberals... and moderates...failed to get the party out from under the popularity of the Reagan-Bush administration."

This article displays how rough the competition was for the presidency.
The fact that the movie included the campaign shows how relevant this election was for the time period of the film. Donnie Darko uses symbolism to express views of our country's political state and redefines what it means to be Left. The film expresses a low opinion for the democrats and does not approve of the Dukakis candidate.