If that’s true then I don’t see how Obama can be elected president. By the way that is my personal feeling as well, I have encountered way too much racism in both the US and Canada to believe either country would elect a black person as a national leader.
Though the ad itself was probably racist, it is not at all obvious that the fact that Horton was black made a worse impact to Dukakis than had he just been a violent repeat offender.
Actually I think that is pretty obvious, and was at the time.
Obama is a superior candidate to Michael Dukakis in every way. I remember at 11 years old thinking, “Really? This guy is a candidate for President?”
And I think that is your opinion. The ad was manipulative and calculating, of course. But teasing out what occurred in the heads of all of the people swayed by the ad is not something we can safely assume. Assuming what goes on in peoples’ heads is a splendid way to lose elections.
Don’t forget his statement during the campaign that he would raise taxes. There was a great SNL skit “What were you thinking” or something like that with someone playing Dukakis after he lost the election.
He was the perfect target for the Republican talking points about Democrats:
- Soft on crime (furlough program with a great example of its failure)
- High taxes
If you are looking for more things that sank Dukakis, look no further.
Gore talked only about the furlough program as a whole. He didn’t mention Horton’s name. It was the Republicans who had the idea to wave a picture of a scary black boogeyman to scare whitey (something that Lee Atwater expressed remorse about on his deathbed).
To the OP, the whole Reverend Wright thing IS Willie Horton redux. It’s the exact same, nakedly racist tactic. “Look at the scary negro! Look at the scary negro!”
At least Horton really was a bad person. The way Wright is being caricatured by the right wing media is truly shameful.
Then there is the fact that his name was William, his mother called him William, his friends called him William, the prison guards called him William, fellow inmates called him William. In fact, the only time he was ever called “Willie” was in those Republican ads.
I now leave it to the usual suspects to explain how there was absolutely no racial intent in renaming him “Willie” in those commercials.
Can’t be the same fellow – this one’s incarcerated in Maryland.
Is “Willie” a distinctly black nickname? I’ve never known an AA who used it.
BG’s cite disagrees with you -
Regards,
Shodan
I’m not sure where BrainGlutton’s cite is from, but CNN claims Gore did not mention Horton by name (Cite, about halfway down - search for “horton”). I’ve been looking for a transcript of the debate, but I haven’t found it yet.
You just won The Smallest Person in the World.
And fuck you and you’re cop out that you’re only kidding.
It is. He was furloughed in MA but committed the crimes in MD and went to jail there for those crimes.
Slate talks at some length about the Horton issue, also agreeing that Gore only spoke in the debate about the furlough program in general. A NY Times article the day after the debate only mentions that Gore “chided [Dukakis] for what he said were ‘‘deep cuts’’ in the state welfare budget and a prisoner furlough policy that has resulted in some prisoners escaping and others committing crimes while on leave”. In fact, the first mention of the name “Willie Horton” (except for the baseball player with the same name) in the NYT comes in June, in an article about a speech made by Bush. Dunno if this link will work, but here’s the NYT query.
So, looks to me like Gore didn’t bring up Horton’s name.
BarnOwl, personal insults are not allowed in GD. Don’t do this again.
I apologize.