ABSTRACT
Bush and his political handlers mounted a blistering attack that made Dukakis the campaign's prime issue and focused on themes reminiscent of Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign: liberalism, patriotism, and crime. The vice president derided Dukakis as a "liberal," and the Bush campaign aired aggressively negative commercials attacking Dukakis. Bush impugned Dukakis's patriotism by lambasting him for a 1977 veto of a bill that would have required Massachusetts schoolchildren to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The most notorious attack advertisement, sponsored by independent Republican group, criticized Dukakis for a prisoner furlough program in Massachusetts. It showed the face of convicted murderer Willie Horton, an African American who had assaulted and raped a woman while on a weekend furlough. The racist appeal of the advertisement, while not overt, was nonetheless clear.
