Demarest was instrumental in directing the Willie Horton message during the 1988 presidential campaign and in setting up the crack buy in Lafayette Park that kicking off President Bush's war on drugs.
This issue, which was compared to the case of Willie Horton, was cited as another reason why Singel lost the campaign.
During the late 1980s, The Eagle-Tribune ran nearly 200 articles on Michael Dukakis and the Massachusetts prison furlough program, with a special focus on Willie Horton.
Willie Horton (born 1951), American criminal and focus of controversy in the 1988 presidential election
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.
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Campaign staffer James Pinkerton returned with reams of material that Atwater told him to reduce to a 3×5 index card, telling him, "I'm giving you one thing. You can use both sides of the 3×5 card."
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Democratic Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis was the governor of Massachusetts at the time of Horton's release, and while he did not start the furlough program, he had supported it as a method of criminal rehabilitation.
Willie Nelson | Willie Mays | Willie Horton | Willie Dixon | John Horton Conway | Horton | Willie Brown | Willie Colón | Willie Brown (politician) | Willie Revillame | Willie Miller | Horton Hears a Who! | Willie Stargell | Willie Perdomo | Willie Pep | Willie Mitchell | The Reverend Horton Heat | Johnny Horton | Edward Everett Horton | Willie Thorne | Willie Sutton | Willie Roaf | Willie | Steamboat Willie | Shotgun Willie | Robin W.G. Horton | Myles Horton | Lester Horton | Horton Plains National Park | Horton, Northamptonshire |
Based on the events of the time, the song references such topics as Willie Horton, the Iran-Contra Affair, Oliver North, the Crack epidemic and many others.
Being "soft on crime"; specifically,an example of this was the infamous Willie Horton incident, which was referenced by George H. W. Bush's Presidential campaign against Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis in the 1988 Presidential election.
Oyler's batting average had dropped to .135, and Smith had four quality outfielders in Willie Horton, Jim Northrup, Al Kaline, and Mickey Stanley.
This recalled a 1988 television commercial that attacked Michael Dukakis for his approval as Massachusetts governor of a furlough program that allowed convicted murderer Willie Horton to escape and commit more crimes.