8, 1980, Ford said President Nixon's involvement in the general election potentially could negatively impact the Reagan campaign: "I think it would have been much more helpful if Mr. Nixon had stayed in the background during this campaign. It would have been much more beneficial to Ronald Reagan." Reflecting on Carter's re-election campaign that year, Ford stated, "I sure didn't want Jimmy Carter to be president again in 1980 because I was very sour on his performance as president." 1988 Ford delivered an address at the 1988 Republican National Convention in defense of Vice President Bush against Democratic Party assertions that Bush had been absent in times of significance. In a September speech in Burlington, Vermont, Ford criticized Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis as having ideas without plans for their financing and stated the US would go bankrupt over the proposed healthcare plan of the Dukakis campaign. In October, Ford partnered with Carter to appear in advertisements created by J. Walter Thompson encouraging voter turnout. 1992 At the 1992 Republican National Convention, Ford compared the election cycle to his 1976 loss to Carter and urged attention be paid to electing a Republican Congress: "If it's change you want on Nov. 3, my friends, the place to start is not at the White House but in the United States' Capitol. Congress, as every school child knows, has the power of the purse. For nearly 40 years, Democratic majorities have held to the time-tested New Deal formula, tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect." In an October 1992 speech to community bankers in Rancho Mirage, Ford stressed the need for the 103rd United States Congress to relieve regulatory burdens on banks and said increased regulations had heightened the cost for institutions. 1996 Ford spoke at the 1996 Republican National Convention, when the party nominated Bob Dole (his 1976 running mate) for president against incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton. In his speech, Ford quipped, "when I suddenly found myself President, I said I was a Ford, not a Lincoln. Today, what we have in the White House is neither a Ford or a Lincoln. What we have is a convertible Dodge. Isn't it time for a trade-in?" Middle East In January and February 1979, the Fords traveled to the Middle East for two weeks, the couple's first time ever traveling to the region. Ford's office announced the trip on January 14. Following the