The Willie Horton Ad

The Willie Horton ad has been and probably will be one of the most infamous presidential ads ever. Some even go on to say that it that ad was what lost the presidency for Dukakis. The ad was not endorsed by Bush's campaign, but it clearly attacked Dukakis for his support of the furlough program. Back when he was senator of Massachusetts, Dukakis supported the furlough program which allowed inmates to leave prison and then return in the hope of criminal rehabilitation. The program was initially not extended to first degree murderers like Horton, but the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that it must included them too. In response, Massachusetts state legislature filed a bill to exclude them which was vetoed by Dukakis who was then the Governor. Thus, the program was still extended to inmates like Horton.

Through the use of the furlough program, Horton was able to leave the state prison for the weekend, after which he would never return. Instead, he robbed, raped, and stabbed a couple and stole their car until he was later captured. Although he was supposed to return to Massachusetts for his life sentence, the judge would not let him leave the state in response to the furlough program.

This brings him back to the Dukakis campaign. Initially, the furlough program was actually mentioned by a fellow democrat during a debate, where Al Gore questioned the program although never brought up Horton. After which, Republicans picked up on this and decided to investigate it where they found William Norton. Thus, the comprised this ad which ran on television, although it was not endorsed formally by the Bush campaign. Later, the Bush campaign created an ad also attacking Dukakis because of the furlough program although it never mentioned Horton. At the time, people claimed that the ad focused on criminal justice instead of race, but towards the end of the campaign, people started to claim that the ad was racist. Despite people's arguments whether the ad was racist or not, both Republicans and Democrats could agree that it devastated Dukakis's public image and campaign.

To this day, the ad is remembered for using race in a Presidential election. While the ad never formally confronts this, it plays on the time old fear of a white woman being raped by a black man. Furthermore, it utilized black stereotypes and fears of the time in order to turn the public opinion. They even chose to use the name Willie, instead of the convict's preferred name, William, likely to help him seem less educated and civil.

"The fact is, my name is not 'Willie.' It's part of the myth of the case. The name irks me. It was created to play on racial stereotypes: big, ugly, dumb, violent, black — 'Willie'. I resent that. They created a fictional character — who seemed believable, but who did not exist. They stripped me of my identity, distorted the facts, and robbed me of my constitutional rights."
- William Horton in response to the ad in an interview from The Nation