Without question the capable and consensus building Bush over the incredibly colorless ultra liberal Dukakis who believed more in granting furloughs to vicious killers than about the rights of victims.
You do realize that the furlough program was started under Dukakis's predecessor, right? The whole Willie Horton thing was just another baseless and asinine Republican attack; the same kind they have been utilizing since 1968. But hey, with the exception of Clinton, Democrats seem to be utterly inept at refuting them, so go with what works, I guess.
Don't you just love American politics?
True, the furlough program was signed into law by Republican Governor Francis Sargent in 1972. However, what you fail to mention, is that after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that this right extended as well to first degree murderers (trust the Massachusetts Supreme Court to make such an abhorrent ruling), the Massachusetts legislature then quickly passed a bill prohibiting furloughs for first degree murderers.
In 1976, Governor Dukaukis vetoed this bill, that is to say Dukakis vetoed the bill that prohibited furloughs for first degree murderers. In other words, Dukakis wanted to have furloughs for first degree murderers. The program remained in effect through the intervening term of Governor Edward King and was abolished during Dukakis's final term on April 28,1988. This abolition only occurred after the Lawrence Eagle Tribune had run 175 stories about the furlough program and won a Pulitzer Prize. Dukakis continued to argue that the program was 99% effective, yet, as the Lawrence Eagle Tribune pointed out, no state outside of Massachusetts, nor any federal program, would grant a furlough to a prisoner serving life without parole, as Horton was.Dukakis was the strongest defender of this atrocious furlough program for first degree murderers.
Dukakis was an abyssmal failure as Governor, was out of his depth as a Presidential candidate, and did not belong anywhere near the White House.
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