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| Liberals decried the race-bating of Bush's "Willie Horton" spot in 1988, but now... |
by Andy Nowicki
Back in 1988, the George Bush campaign consultant Lee Atwater put together a political ad taking Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis to task for-- in his then-capacity as governor of Massachusetts-- giving convicted rapist and murderer Willie Horton weekend furloughs from prison.
The spot, which featured a looming shot of Horton's scary-looking big-lipped black face, was widely decried as low-class, bottom-of-the-barrel, altogether deplorable race-baiting. And Atwater's critics did have a point on this score... on the other hand, the spot did at least report on a factually true case, albeit in a lurid, scaremongering manner.
Three decades on, things have changed. Now it is the Dems who are taking the "Hortonization" trend to new, unfathomable lows.
In an already notorious TV spot put out by the Latino Victory Fund in Virginia, a middle-aged white male Republican-voting pickup truck driver--with a Confederate flag draped on his windshield and a "Don't Tread on Me" sign on his grille--attempts to mow down a bunch of minority children walking home from school.
Yes, you heard that right. Don't believe me? See for yourself.
This spot is "Willie Horton" times ten; it is "Willie Horton" on proverbial steroids. It is a naked effort to demonize an entire demographic of people: namely, conservative-leaning white men.
Andy comments further on this disgusting ad, and all that it portends:
