George Bush Sr. on Crime President of the U.S., 1989-1993; Former Republican Rep. (TX)

Where do the three Bushes disagree on domestic issues?

Willie Horton Ads: don't release repeat offenders

Horton was in prison for [murder, when furloughed,] and had already been convicted--and released--for attempted murder in South Carolina. While on his Dukakis-granted furlough, Horton raped and tortured a Maryland couple in their home for 12 hours. The Maryland couple flew to Boston to sit down with Dukakis. Dukakis refused to meet with them. Instead, he issued a statement reaffirming his strong support for furloughing murderers. So Dukakis did not lose the 1988 election because "he did not adequately respond to Republican attacks," as NPR put it. He lost because of an idiotic furlough program he supported, protected and staunchly defended.

Willie Horton was a crime issue, not a racism issue

I asked Dad recently about the whole Will Horton episode: "I felt we did the right thing. It was definitely a crime issue. We got on Dukakis about having this lenient furlough program where he let people out of jail, and here was the best example--a man who was a convicted rapist who went out and raped again when he was on furlough." The crime issue was very powerful.

1988: "Willie Horton" TV ads attacked furlough program

Yet 3 years later Bush continued to deny that the issue was designed to be racially divisive: "The point of Willie Horton was not Willie Horton himself. The point was, do you believe in a furlough program that releases people from jail so they can go out and rape, pillage and plunder again? That's what the issue was." Even Lee Atwater was so ashamed of the ugliness he had helped perpetuate that he made a public apology before his death in 1991.

Willie Horton ads: "revolving door of justice" frees rapists

The ad made no mention of a certain Willie Horton, a black convicted murderer who was released from a MA jail on his 10th furlough and then absconded to Maryland, where he raped a white woman and stabbed her fiance. It wasn't necessary because a similar ad produced by "Americans for Bush" showed and named Horton.

The impact made by Horton's mug shot fused ideally with the revolving prison door of convicts, leading Bush's critics to complain that the ad was thoroughly racist without being nominally so.

Habeas corpus reform, so you don't have endless appeals

BUSH: I was not for the bill that he was talking about because it was not tough enough on the criminal. I have been fighting for very strong anticrime legislation: habeas corpus reform, so you don't have these endless appeals; so when somebody gets sentenced, hey, this is for real. I've been fighting for changes in the exclusionary rule, so if an honest cop stops somebody and makes a technical mistake, the criminal doesn't go away. I happen to think that we need stronger death penalties for those that kill police officers.

Renewed investment in fighting violent street crime

Freedom from crime is a fundamental civil right

And as we fight crime, we will fully implement our national strategy for combating drug abuse. We are making progress, but much remains to be done. We will not rest until the day of the dealer is over, forever.