In 1988, Al Gore was masquerading as a pro-life southern politician. Texas was a one-party state.
Republicans were a non-factor. You had your conservative Democrats and your liberal Democrats and a few weirdos who voted Republican and wasted their votes.
Nearly all Republicans over the age of 50 in Texas are former Democrats.
Same is probably true in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. There was no Republican party to speak of. You had to vote for a conservative or liberal democrat or you wasted your vote.
True Texas story:
A close older relative of mine gave up on the national Democrats after Adlai Stevenson lost. Hated Kennedy & Johnson, supported Nixon through Watergate, (but would vote for Democrats in local and state races because Republicans often put up weak candidates or none at all).
She never missed a election, because she was a Democratic Election Judge!