Willie Horton Ad

The Willie Horton ad was a political television advertisement used by those sympathetic to Republican George H. W. Bush's campaign during the 1988 presidential election against Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. The attack ad emphasized Dukakis's support [Page 839]of a weekend furlough program in his home state of Massachusetts, where he served as governor. This program, as the ad claimed, allowed Willie Horton, convicted of murder in 1974, to commit rape and armed robbery after he was released from prison in 1987 on a weekend furlough and never returned. A picture of Willie Horton is included in the ad, thus showing that he is of African American descent. This attack first materialized after Lee Atwater, a strategist for Bush's campaign, consulted with aides Jim Pinkerton and Andrew Card and discovered the Massachusetts weekend furlough program. Atwater witnessed the strength of this issue by screening an early version of the ad to a focus group of Dukakis supporters in Alabama, nearly all of whom switched their allegiance to Bush after viewing the ad. Although Dukakis supported this program as a rehabilitative measure, it was actually started by Republican governor Frank Sergeant in 1972. Dukakis, however, was governor in 1987 when Horton was released on the furlough, committed further crimes in Maryland, and remains incarcerated there to this day serving two life terms. The Bush campaign took advantage of this issue by producing its own ad, the “Revolving Door,” which focuses on the Dukakis furlough program but does not identify Willie Horton or any other specific offender by name. This ad is often confused with the Willie Horton ad.

The Willie Horton ad was not released as an advertisement by the Republican Party or the Bush campaign, but rather by an arm of the National Security Political Action Committee known as Americans for Bush. The producer of this ad was Larry McCarthy, a former employee of current Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes. Others, such as Jesse Jackson and Dukakis's running mate Lloyd Bentsen, called the ad overtly racist. Lee Atwater eventually apologized to Dukakis for the creation of the ad before he succumbed to cancer in 1991. In addition, the “Black Elected Democrats of Ohio” along with the Ohio Democratic Party filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission alleging that the political action committee that released the ad did so as an in-kind campaign contribution to the Bush campaign, but no evidence of campaign finance violations was found.

Although the Willie Horton ad was not aired a great deal, it benefited from repeated play and commentary by the news media. Of course, the Revolving Door ad did run frequently and may have called the Willie Horton ad issues to mind for some voters. The failure of the Dukakis campaign to respond effectively to the charges in these ads is considered a major reason for his electoral defeat.

Although Dukakis abolished the weekend furlough program in April 1988, the criticism of his past support of it continued. Dukakis, however, continued to insist that it was overwhelmingly effective long after its demise. Following his presidential loss, Dukakis announced his departure from politics effective with the conclusion of his third gubernatorial term in 1991. Horton remains incarcerated at the Maryland House of Correction Annex in Jessup, Maryland.

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