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The Truth about the 1988 Election and Willie Horton
Part 2: How a murderer turned into a black murderer
RTS Admin, Daniel Shuster & Aaron Moatz
August 01, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes
In Part 1, we explored common misconceptions about the 1988 election and the accusation that Bush was desperate. We examined how Americans didn’t reject Dukakis because of Willie Horton—instead, Americans rejected Dukakis and the Left’s ideology. We debunked myths surrounding Bush's campaign advertising and uncovered the true reaction and narrative that defined the election before Dukakis' last-minute desperate $5 million arranged racial Turn.
The Turn
On October 24th on the front page of the New York Times, an article was published with the title “Foes Accuse Bush Campaign of Inflaming Racial Tension.” Seemingly simultaneously, the Dukakis campaign and Democratic surrogates around the country came to the same conclusion all at once: Bush's lead was due to Bush’s racism, and to support Bush was to support racism. It coincided precisely with when Dukakis met with prominent black leaders in Boston and held a press conference afterward. The New York Times reported:
Some of those who participated in the Boston meeting with Mr. Dukakis said the racial issue was mentioned, although the meeting was devoted primarily to strategies for turning out Democratic voters on Nov. 8.[...]
Mr. [Jesse] Jackson, speaking earlier at a Boston news conference, said: ''There have been a number of rather ugly race-conscious signals sent from that campaign.'' He accused the Bush campaign of seeking to spread ''horrible'' fears. Mr. Jackson spoke after a meeting with Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts, the Democratic Presidential nominee, and about 20 prominent black politicians.
Dukakis's campaign manager, Susan Estrich, insisted ''There is no stronger metaphor for racial hatred in our country than the black man raping the white woman.'' She added ''If you were going to run a campaign of fear and smear and appeal to racial hatred you could not have picked a better case to use than this one.''1
Donna Brazile, a former Jesse Jackson aid now Dukakis deputy national field director tasked with organizing black support,2 said ''It's the oldest racial symbol imaginable,'' saying ''I mean, a black man raping a white woman while her husband watched.'' Brazile had to resign after also telling reporters that Bush had been involved in an extra-marital affair. Brazile would go on to Chair the Democratic National Committee, teach at Georgetown University, and become the campaign manager for the Gore-Lieberman 2000 campaign.3
Willie Horton’s furlough was a problem for Dukakis since the issue was first brought up to him by Al Gore during the Democratic primaries in April. But only now, with weeks left in the election, Brazile and Estrich realized there was “no stronger metaphor” and it was the “oldest racial symbol imaginable.”4
Among others at the Boston meeting and subsequent news conference was Rep. Charles Rangel who said: ''Let's face it, if we talk about a murderer and a rapist and you have as part of the commercial black folks' faces, then you don't have to be a Democrat to know that is an appeal along racial lines.''5
''The use of the Willie Horton example is designed to create the most horrible psycho-sexual fears, the furlough ad with black and brown faces rotating in and out of jail,” oddly exclaimed Jesse Jackson.6
The racism blamed on Bush was directed at the Horton case in general and specifically Bush’s “Revolving Door” commercial. But the New York Times article noted:
Television spots on the prison furlough issue run by the Bush campaign have not included Mr. Horton's photograph or mentioned that he is black. Mr. Goodin said that was a deliberate decision, not because the campaign thought the picture would create racist overtones but because it wanted to focus on the furlough issue, not just the Horton case.
The furlough commercial that the Bush campaign uses has only a few discernibly black faces among the two dozen or so prisoners shown. But its dull, gray tones make it hard to identify the men by race.
The Dukakis campaign had run out of ideas and on the 28th week with only 2 weeks left, racism was their last hope. The VP, campaign manager, campaign chair, aides, etc. had not made a single charge of racism before this 11th-hour Turn. Something they claimed was so obvious, was apparently not obvious before the Boston meeting.
Bush responded by defending the “Revolving Door” ad saying that it had been running a “long, long time” but now at the last minute, there was a “concerted effort with all these people going out saying the same thing. I mean people see this for what it is–a campaign tactic.”7
How A Murderer Became a Black Murderer and an Election Turned Racial
In July, David Lauter of the LA Times focused on the statistics surrounding the Massachusetts furlough program using Horton as an example. Lauter described Horton as “a convicted murderer sentenced to life in prison without parole.”8 After the Turn of October 24th, Lauter described Horton as “a black prisoner,” and by December after the election, Lauter wrote about the furlough program letting, “a black murderer, Willie Horton, to escape and rape a white woman in Maryland.”9
Robert Shogan wrote in the LA Times about the coverage dedicated to the crime issue for the election, describing Horton as “a convicted murderer,”10 but after the election described Horton as “a black convicted of murder.”11
Catherine Decker, for the LA Times in July, described Horton as “a convicted murderer” with no mention of race,12 but by October 25th it was important to include “Horton is black and his victims are white.”13
Prior to the Turn the New York Times exclusively spoke about Horton and the furlough program in non-racial terms. After the Turn writers like R. W. Apple Jr. and E.J. Dionne, among others, nearly exclusively framed Horton and the furlough problem in racial terms.
Robin Toner covered Horton and the Massachusetts furlough program for the New York Times in July,14 September,15 and multiple times in October before the Turn, all with no mention of race or racism.16 But by October 25th Horton was now “a black murderer who escaped” and “raped a white woman.”17
To Gerald Boyd in July, Horton was “a convicted murderer,”18 but by November he was “the black Massachusetts murderer.”19
Maureen Dowd just before the Turn introduced Horton as “the murderer who left the Massachusetts prison system on a weekend furlough,”20 but just days later, after the Turn, Horton became “a black prisoner who raped a white woman and stabbed her husband while he was on a furlough from a Massachusetts prison.”21
The New York Times editorial board dedicated a piece on the topic titled “Furloughs From Common Sense” in June with no mention of race or racism.22 Rather, it called for more explanation from the “accountable” Dukakis. The piece noted Horton as “a Massachusetts murderer” but after the Turn, Horton became “a black murder convict” in a piece titled “George Bush and Willie Horton.”23 The board decried Bush for not stopping the racially charged subject from being an issue in the campaign, despite the same editorial board calling for Dukakis to be “accountable” only months earlier.
Prominent syndicated columnist Richard Cohen devoted an entire column in July to “William Horton’s Furlough” without a mention of race. The column was dedicated to the subject being important, relevant, and embarrassing to fellow liberals. Cohen implored Dukakis to respond. Cohen understood why Bush was lambasting Dukakis and why Bush was even “right to do so,” adding “The Horton case is a clear embarrassment.” Cohen concluded in his July column, “The [Horton] question Bush poses is a fair one, and Dukakis had better answer it.”
After the Turn in October, Cohen’s column was dedicated to race. “The crime most white Americans fear is black crime. In that regard, George Bush has been given the gift of Willie Horton” Cohen wrote, adding that the racism of Americans was the problem. In a later column, Cohen accused Bush of “exploiting racially charged issues” and that he “exacerbated the division” between races. By 2008 Cohen wrote in a piece titled “The Race Issue, Still” summarized the 1988 campaign this way, “The Bush campaign seized on Horton and, in a powerful and repugnant commercial, ran his mug shot: an image of a bearded black man.” Cohen personified the media's transition from Horton's race being a non-factor, to the primary factor on the furlough issue, to the primary factor of the election.
Willie Horton wasn’t the primary factor of the election, Dukakis’ leftist idealogy towards criminal justice was. This ideology was what shocked everyone from Al Gore to Oprah to the Pulitzer Prize committee to the moderate voter. That’s also why “racism” was a losing Democratic accusation. Though the racial elements were widely discussed, they were typically framed in the context of the political battle between the two parties. It was not widely accepted that the charge of racism was true or accurate even by the left-leaning media. Horton as a tool of racism was discussed as a strategy of the Democrats, not a reality of the Republicans.
Dan Rather challenged the Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Bentsen "Can't a person, or can a person, be deeply concerned about revolving-door justice and laxity toward criminals, even when the criminal happens to be someone who is black and still not be a racist?"24
Black columnists like Dewayne Wickham were not fooled, “[Dukakis'] belated appeal to blacks is the last desperate gasp of a troubled campaign.”25 Clarence Page also gave his assessment:
Now that polls show Dukakis losing not only the votes of Reagan Democrats but also the enthusiasm of Jackson blacks, Dukakis’ racism charge sounds like a desperation play in the final minutes of the game. Just as Bush can arouse conservatives by waving Old Glory, Dukakis can arouse blacks, it is reasoned, by waving the red rag of racism.
After the election, black voters didn’t seem to have animosity towards Bush, as the New York Times reported in 1990:
After more than a generation of unswerving loyalty to the Democratic Party and its leaders, black Americans have given George Bush the highest level of sustained approval for any Republican President in 30 years, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll and a series of follow-up interviews.
The New York Times, 13 April 1990.
Gallup found that only 9% of Bush voters found his advertisements “Very Important” compared with Dukakis’ liberalism 50%, the Pledge of Allegiance issue 39%, and the Massachusetts prison furlough issue 37%.26 According to the Times Mirror post-election survey of voters, only 24% could even identify who Willie Horton was.
The Los Angeles Times, 13 November 1988.
It is simply a matter of history that inept Democrats paid $5 million to turn Willie Horton from a “murderous rapist” to a “black murderous rapist.” They created the reason the media started to refer to, and focus on Willie Horton as “black,” to provide context to the charge of racism. Before the charge of racism, Willie Horton was just a murderer.
Which campaign used race in a destructive desperate attempt to instigate fear and animosity? There is a clear verdict. The racialist ledger for the 1988 election unquestionably anchors on the side of Dukakis and the Democratic Party, again.
1 The New York Times, 24 October 1988.
2 The Atlanta Journal, 13 October 1988.
3 The Jackson Sun, 13 April 2005.
4 The New York Times, 24 October 1988.
5 The New York Times, 24 October 1988.
6 The New York Times, 24 October 1988.
7 Press of Atlantic City, 24 October 1988.
8 The Los Angeles Times, 02 July 1988.
9 The Los Angeles Times, 24 October 1988.
10 The Los Angeles Times, 11 July 1988.
11 The Los Angeles Times, 20 February 1989.
12 The Los Angeles Times, 23 July 1988.
13 The Los Angeles Times, 25 October 1988.
14 The New York Times, 05 July 1988.
15 The New York Times, 02 September 1988.
16 The New York Times, 16 October 1988; The New York Times, 20 October 1988.
17 The New York Times, 25 October 1988.
18 The New York Times, 23 July 1988.
19 The New York Times, 12 November 1988.
20 The New York Times, 08 October 1988.
21 The New York Times, 25 October 1988.
22 The New York Times, 30 June 1988.
23 The New York Times, 04 November 1988.
24 CBS Evening News, October 26, 1988.
25 Gannett News Service, 28 October 1988.
26 The Daily Item, 21 November 1988.
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