I don't think the "Willie Horton" style ad would be too effective anymore.

[Lex]

Remember? That is the ad that Dukakis was blind-sided with back in the day. His numbers started dropping after that.

I think the electorate is more jaded now that we've had years of that same negative crap for political ads--I think it would backfire maybe if Bush tried it on Kerry/Edwards.

I remember it as being the first really low-blow negative BS ad. And at the time, it was effective against Dukakis.

Don't think such an ad would still work in the same way.

[Jim Sagle]

1. I wonder how effective it really was. I suspect it repelled as many votes

as it attracted.

I think the ad that really sunk Dukakis was the tank ad.

[JI7]

3. it was Dukakis' response to the question of what if his wife was raped

or murdered and whether he would support the death penalty. he opposed the death penalty and had been asked this question many times so he gave the same answer he always gives but people didn't think he was emotional enough about it. and this is where the willie horton ad was effective, dukakis' answer got people to see the willie horton ad of being soft on crime as true rather than just a negative ad commonly used in politics.

[Lex]

4. Ugh. I had forgotten about the hypothetical rape question.

God, that was disgusting--the question, not the answer. The press helped screw over Dukakis as much as anything (same with Al Gore too).

Hope that Kerry/Edwards can effectively counter anything that comes at them like this.

[LTR]

6. Dukakis is a decent guy, but a political wet noodle

He just couldn't take on the Atwater machine. I hate to say it, but Dukakis was a wimp. I had a hard time admitting I voted for him.

Kerry, on the other hand, is no Dukakis. He's been hardened by a few decades in politics, and has seen it all. He is quick at the comebacks (i.e. the Cheney is already president quip, which sounded like he had just logged off DU). Kerry ain't takin' no shit this year. He is not the Massachusettes liberal that the GOP is trying to paint him as.

But I hope they still hold low expectations for Kerry. It'll shock 'em even more when he topples Bushco.

[Blue Wally]

7. yeah, the tank

He looked like a bug in the tanker helmet. Shoulda wore a baseball cap and put the head set over his hat. Course that was a photo-op set up by his own people to make him look strong on defense. They should have had him standing in the turret looking like Rommel or Patton.

[AndyTiedye]

2. It Doesn't Matter What It Is

They just latch on to something, *anything*,
and hammer on it with their bottomless advertising budget
until people react the way they want. It always works on
a significant portion of the population.

[troublemaker]

5. Not even with an Arab Willie Horton?

[Jack Rabbit]

8. It would do the Democrats a world of good to preempt the strategy

Their stewardship of the economy is a failure; there is a lower percentage of employed Americans in the summer of an election year than on the previous inauguration day for the first time since 1932.
Their war on terror is a failure; since Iraq had nothing to do either the September 11 attacks or al Qaida and had nothing remotely resembling the kind of weapons arsenal the Bushies claimed they had, how could invading that country make Americans safer? During the time the real war on terrorism was neglected in order to topple Saddam, al Qaida regrouped and has in the last several months staged significant attacks in Istanbul, Madrid and Riyadh.

They are a bunch of crooks. The invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism, but it has produced significant business opportunities for Bush's favorite transnational corporate campaign contributors, including those in which administration officials or their families have obvious connections, such as Carlyle and Halliburton. Since the streets are still not safe nor electrical power reliable Iraq, one should ask what these transnational are doing to earn the US taxpayer money they are receiving. This is in addition to one corporate scandal after another. They wink while Enron and other energy giants steal from California rate payers; they don't react to Enron stealing from its own employees like its any big deal.

The Bushies have nothing to say for themselves. They outdo even the Harding administration for corruption and incompetence and even the Nixon administration for arrogance and cynicism. They must convince us that John Edwards, Mr. Carolina Sunshine himself, is a pessimist, that Kerry's supporters are a bunch of wild-eyed loonies and that Osama wants Kerry to win.

We can expect a plethora of Willie Horton ads. The best thing to do is to say that there will be a plethora of negativism from the Bushies before they strike.