While a terrible story in its own right, Willie Horton took on a national importance during the Bush-Dukakis Presidential election of 1988. Dukakis had been governor during Horton's release and had supported the program for rehabilitation of inmates. Dukakis also vetoed a bill that would have excluded first-degree murderers from the program all together.
During the campaign, the issue was first brought up by Al Gore in a primary debate, but was used far more prominently by the Bush campaign. During the fall of the campaign, a pro-Bush ad group ran the "Weekend Passes" add that attacked Dukakis for the program, prominently displaying Horton's face and the name Willie Horton, although, he had always gone by William. Bush's official campaign later ran the "Revolving Doors" ad, which similarly attacked Dukakis, but without Horton's picture. Lee Atwater, Bush's campaign manager has been quoted as saying, "By the time we're finished, they're going to wonder whether Willie Horton is Dukakis' running mate."Lee Atwater later apologized for the "naked cruelty" of this statement and others. The ads were criticized as racist, appealing to racial stereotypes and fears, and mark to many represent a low point for George H.W. Bush.
It's interesting how Dukakis was criticized so harshly for a policy that wouldn't have been of any relevance to the presidential campaign were it not for Willie Horton. This really speaks to how American politicians spend a great deal of energy tearing down their opponents, rather than bolstering their own campaign. Can you think of a current example of politicians using this tactic in the most recent presidential race?
ReplyDeleteLee Atwater was definitely not the first person to ever implement "dirty tactics" during a presidential campaign to taint another's opponents reputation. In Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign, he implemented the controversial "Daisy" T.V. ad attacking his opponent. The ad just capitalized on the fear prevalent in America at the time and had little facts, but it was effective in swinging the public to President Johnson. The "Willie Horton" ad was something similar. The ad was different in the sense that it capitalized on racial stereotypes and fears in order to swing the public in favor of Bush 41. This almost illustrates the line that advertisers sometimes cross in order to further their message. Though Bush wanted to run an honest campaign, these ads will always remain as a dark stain on his reputation.
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