McCain Plays Horton-Like Race Card: Dukakis

Dem compares new ads to Bush spots that helped sink his 1988 bid

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 23, 2008 4:30 PM CDT

(Newser) – Michael Dukakis says John McCain is using the same race-based tactics that sunk the Massachusetts Democrat’s 1988 presidential campaign, PolitickerMA reports. Dukakis cites an ad that criticizes Barack Obama’s supposed economic advisor, disgraced Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines, who’s also black. Dukakis called the spot “essentially” similar to the Willie Horton ads used to paint him as soft on crime.

That ad, run by a third party during Dukakis’ campaign against George H.W. Bush, described the rape of a white woman by Horton, a black convict, while on a weekend furlough that Dukakis supported as governor of Massachusetts. Dukakis stressed that Raines was not a close economic advisor to Obama, and that his prominence in the ad was racially motivated.

[Images (5)]

[Videos (1)]

[Quotes (1)]

Dukakis at the Democratic National Convention this year. (AP Photo)

"Why did they pick that person from Fannie Mae?" Michael Dukakis wonders about an ad picturing Barack Obama with Franklin Raines, a former Fannie Mae exec who advised the candidate. (Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. hugs a baby. (AP Photo)

Former Fannie Mae Chairman and CEO Franklin Raines. (AP Photo)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (AP Photo)

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The McCain campaign's new ad targeting Obama's relationship with Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines. (JohnMcCaindotcom)

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You have to be very careful with race. For us on the outside, we can point it out. - Michael Dukakis

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McCain Plays Horton-Like Race Card: Dukakis