The Willie Horton Issue.

When they first heard that George Bush was planning to go after Dukakis on the crime issue, the Dukakis campaign was incredulous. The crime rate in Massachusetts had gone down markedly during Dukakis's governorship, and they believed that the Republicans' strategy would have little effect on their candidate's chances. They severely underestimated the abilities of Republican strategist Lee Atwater, who created in the minds of the public such a strong association between Dukakis and a convicted murder named Willie Horton that the crime issue became the single biggest factor in Dukakis's loss of the election. Under Dukakis's predecessor Massachusetts prisons had begun giving weekend furloughs to prison inmates with records of good behavior. Most states had similar programs (including California during Reagan's governorship), as did the federal prisons, and Dukakis allowed the Massachusetts prisoner furloughs to continue. Unfortunately a...