In Chapter 3, Coulter discusses the case of Willie Horton and the fallout that occurred during the 1988 presidential election because of it. The background is that Michael Dukakis, while he was Governor of Massachusetts, instituted a program of releasing criminals on furlough, which means they get to leave prison for the weekend. They are released on Friday and have to be back on Sunday. Dukakis allowed all criminals to be recommended and approved for furlough, no matter what crime they had committed. One such criminal was named Willie Horton. Horton had been convicted of a brutal murder of a 17-year old, Joey Fournier, who was killed while Horton was trying to rob the store Fournier was working at. Dukakis had previously vetoed a bill to reinstate the death penalty, so the maximum sentence Horton could receive was life without parole, which he received. After serving 7 years, Horton was furloughed. He fled to Maryland and captured a couple, committing rape and other numerous felonies. He was captured and convicted in Maryland, and Maryland refused to send Horton back to Massachusetts for fear he would be released again. The main issue came in during the election when George Bush ran an ad regarding Willie Horton and Dukakis’ failed furlough policy. Democrats were furious and accused Bush of being a racist due to Horton being black. She concludes that the issue of Willie Horton probably helped cost Dukakis the election due to him being associated with a murderer and rapist.
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