“Bush and Dukakis on crime.” This ad made by George H.W. Bush’s supporters for his 1988 presidential campaign is infamous for stoking racial fears in an attack against his Democratic opponent, Michael Dukakis. “He allowed first-degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison. One was Willie Horton, who murdered a boy in a robbery, stabbing him 19 times. Horton fled, kidnapped a young couple, stabbing the man and repeatedly raping his girlfriend. Weekend prison passes — Dukakis on crime.” The 30-second ad was aimed at painting Dukakis as weak on crime, and it used photos of Horton in a way that played into racist stereotypes linking crime and black men. Critics say it encouraged race-based politics. “The insinuation is if you elect Gov. Dukakis as president, we’re going to have black rapists running amok in the country, right? So it’s playing to white fears about black crime.” The Bush campaign denied any involvement in the ad, but later aired a related one. “His revolving door prison policy gave weekend furloughs to first-degree murderers not eligible for parole.” This ad directly attacked furlough programs, a common practice at the time where inmates were allowed out of prison to visit family. It was the same program that gave Horton his so-called weekend pass. The effects of this political tactic by the Bush campaign lived on for years to come. When Bill Clinton took office, he took a similar tough-on-crime approach: “The message today to the Bloods, the Crips, to every criminal gang preying on the innocent is clear. We mean to put you out of business.” The Horton ad also gave way to racially charged politics that we continue to see today. A week before the 2018 midterm elections, President Trump’s team released this ad falsely connecting crime to Mexican immigrants. Years later, the legacy of the Horton ad lives on.