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million. Bush expresses no regret for Horton's advertising and some of his long-time allies have long claimed that he has had a bad name for something that does not really concern him. Al Gore, then a Tennessee senator, was the first to try to get the Horton case around Mr. Dukakis' neck during the Democratic primaries of that year.
In the summer, Bush took up the theme by citing the case in speeches. and, in the fall, his campaign began to air an advertisement attacking the capital program in Massachusetts, showing a series of prisoners crossing a revolving door. But this Bush campaign advertisement did not mention Mr. Horton.
The one that would be remembered for years to come was not produced by the Bush campaign, but by an agent named Larry McCarthy working for a seemingly independent group called the National Security Political Action Committee. The ad, titled "Weekend Passes", featured Horton, showing an image of his scowling face as the narrator described his torture and rape of the Maryland couple. Finally, it was shown only briefly on cable television, but its impact was amplified by repeated coverage in newscasts.
When critics described the ad's call as irreverent against racial fears, the Bush campaign distanced itself from advertising and wrote. to the committee that circulated it asking that it be withdrawn. But Mr. Dukakis did not buy the explanation that the committee was independent. "Anyone who thinks he believes in the Tooth Fairy," he said at one point.
Indeed, Bush's advisers had been focused on Mr. Horton for months. "If I can do Willie Horton a well-known name, we will win the election, "said campaign strategist Lee Atwater, another Bush strategist, Roger Ailes, said," The only question is whether we represent Willie. Horton with a knife in his hand or without. "
A little over two Years later, touched by a cancer that was going to take his life, Mr. Atwater repented of the intransigent tactics employed in 1988. He particularly regretted having made Mr. Horton's candidate for the vice-presidency of Mr. Dukakis "because that makes me racist". , which I am not.
What has never been clear is Bush's involvement in shaping the strategy. But as Josh King, author of "Off Script," a book on political scenography, and student of the 1988 race, says, "he was ready to employ campaign aides who would use the smallest knuckles to achieve the desired goal. . to humiliate and destroy the opposing candidate. "
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