Worried about the return of Willie Horton

[LeighAnn]

We know it's coming... the Return of Willie Horton

I'm so worried that it will be in the form of "Anne Pressly's Killer"

There won't be enough time to establish any sort of guilt or innocence, just enough time to splash the picture of the scary "dark-skinned black man" (Ashley Todd's words) all over every news broadcast in the country for the last days leading up to the election.

Anybody out there remember at what point Willie Horton became a household name in the '88 election? I'm pretty sure it was just a week or less before election day.

[BlooInBloo]

1. Concern noted.

[rcrush]

2. No.

[cliffordu]

3. Concern form filled out in triplicate and posted in the concern forum.

[grantcart]

16. with or without carbon

[cliffordu]

20. Damn!! Forgot the carbon. I'll re-do it.

There goes my old skool cred.

[davepc]

4. Willie Horton was dropped into Lee Atwaters lap by Al Gore during the Dem primary

Then, it was picked up and ran with by the Bush campaign for the ENTIRE ELECTION.

The Horton Ad wasn't some last second "gotcha", but a pillar in a campaign strategy that lasted for months.

If the Horton Ad only had a single week of airplay without the constant reflection back to it in the rest of the campaign it wouldn't of done what it did.

There is not a single god damn thing McCain can conjure up this week that will star to sway the momentum.

[JeffR]

5. Horton was trotted out by NSPAC on September 21, '88

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Horton

You should find something else to get frantic about.

on edit: Yes, Gore mentioned Horton during the primaries and Bush Sr. mentioned him in June, but it wasn't until September that Horton became a theoretical game-changer.

[abumbyanyothername]

6. Google and wiki are wonderful

". . . The fall campaign

Beginning on September 21, 1988, the Americans for Bush arm of the National Security Political Action Committee (NSPAC), under the auspices of Floyd Brown, began running a campaign ad entitled "Weekend Passes", using the Horton case to attack Dukakis. The ad was produced by media consultant Larry McCarthy, who had previously worked for Roger Ailes. After clearing the ad with television stations, McCarthy went back and added a menacing mug shot of Horton, who is African American. He called the image "every suburban mother's greatest fear." Additionally, although Horton actually went by "William", the campaign changed his name to "Willie."<10> The ad was run as an independent expenditure, separate from the Bush campaign, which claimed, as is legally required, not to have had any role in its production.<11>

On October 5, 1988, a day after the "Weekend Passes" ad was taken off the airwaves, and also the date of the Bentsen-Quayle debate, the Bush campaign ran its own ad, "Revolving Door", which also attacked Dukakis over the weekend furlough program. While the advertisement did not mention Horton or feature his photograph, it depicted a variety of intimidating-looking men walking in and out of prison through a revolving door.<12> The commercial was filmed at an actual state prison in Draper, Utah, but the individuals depicted — thirty in all, including three African Americans and two Hispanics, were all paid actors."

Willie Horton had been kicking around since June at least.

[kingpin8399]

7. anne pressly has zero connection to obama, atleast horton and dukakis had a connection....calm down

[LeighAnn]

15. Okay, sorry

Welcome to DU! :hi:

I'm sorry, this just seems to be going a little too well. The Rove crime machine is capable of pulling off any sort of horrific crime to further their corporate agenda.

Plus, I've watched lots and lots of those "true crime" shows, and how many times has a seeming "random robbery" ended up with a stout murder conviction of a person who wanted the lady dead for the insurance money, etc?

I saw this in the news: "Police speculated that Pressly might have been the victim of a stalker, but continue to say that she was apparently the victim of a random attack."

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1439393.php/Arkansas_anchor_Anne_Pressly_mourned_killer_at_large

I don't buy it, especially given the brutality involved:

"Police revealed to reporters that her face and head were pummeled, as many bones were broken in her face and her skull had been broken in several places. "

Do you put it past the Cheney cabal to do something so sinister for political gain?

Edited to include link

[WCGreen]

8. Sept 21, 1988...

the first commercial ran..

The first person to mention the Massachusetts furlough program in the 1988 presidential campaign was Al Gore. During a debate at the Felt Forum sponsored by the New York Daily News, Gore took issue with the furlough program. However, he did not specifically mention the Horton incident or even mention Horton's name, instead asking a general question about the Massachusetts furlough program.<6>

Republicans would pick up the Horton issue after Dukakis clinched the nomination. In June 1988, Republican candidate George H.W. Bush seized on the Horton case, bringing it up repeatedly in campaign speeches.<6> Bush's campaign manager, Lee Atwater, predicted that "by the time this election is over, Willie Horton will be a household name."<6><7> Media consultant Roger Ailes remarked "the only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it."<8>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Horton

I trust this Wiki post because I remember seeing the ad way before the World Series that year...

[FrenchieCat]

9. Took you 6 years to get to 2,000 posts?

Well, ok.....I can see why.

[LeighAnn]

17. Why's that?

:shrug:

[Uzybone]

10. Jesus Christ

too much worry.

[Hippo_Tron]

11. Willie Horton was far more than a week before the election

And it was part of a greater narrative that Lee Atwater used to define Dukakis. Trying to suddenly use a Willie Horton narrative the week before an election is like trying to pass your doctoral exams by cramming the week before. It simply doesn't work.

[4lbs]

12. No one even knows who Ms. Pressly's killer is. Several MSM pundits today were speculating it might

be some stalker "fan" who felt rejected by her after sending a bunch of letters and such and getting no response back. That's because nothing was taken, and the attack seemed personal in nature.

Stalkers are usually crazy white males.

[LeighAnn]

18. Now they're saying it was a "random attack"

[firedupdem]

23. What does this random attack have to do with Obama? How are

you relating the two? I really don't understand where you are going with this?

[billyoc]

13. Cheer up, little buckaroo!

and by "Cheer", I mean, "Shut the fuck".

[Cali_Democrat]

14. How the hell do you even know if her killer is black?

Where the fuck did you get this from?

[LeighAnn]

21. I don't think he/she is African American

I think the cabal could have done it as part of their October Surprise and then try to pin it on an African American

[Cali_Democrat]

22. In order for something like Willie Horton to be effective, you have to use it to define an opponent.

There's simply not enough time for them to do it. Are they gonna say Obama is soft on crime? That hasn't been one of their main arguments against him so it would look foolish for the GOP to use that argument now.

Obama has already been defined in the minds of the voters.

Take a deep breath and calm down. Everything is fine. ;)

[firedupdem]

24. no matter who committed this crime I'm 100% sure that people don't

assume that Barack is responsible no matter the ethnicity of the culprit! Stop this craziness!

[juajen]

26. I know she had a cameo role in "W". Has anyone seen this?

It is possible that her role had something to do with it, or her visibility in Little Rock. I hope they find this shit quickly.

I agree with whoever said that it wasn't random. Seems like a real personal crime to me.

[Liberal_in_LA]

19. Don't worry. Whatever comes his way, Obama will handle it.

[SweetieD]

25. I've never even heard of Ann Presley until now.