I'd say it goes a bit beyond the Willie Horton ad. The Horton issue (which was started by Gore BTW, and only picked up by Republicans later on), was about what Dukakis had actually done, and wasn't claiming anything along the lines that Dukakis would lead us to a nuclear war.
(Edit - Gore didn't specifically mention Horton, but did attack Dukakis about the furlough program, and being soft on crime etc.)
Sure, but it doesn't have anything to do with the characteristics of the particular cultural divide (allegedly) initiated by Buchanan and Nixon: "two Americas: the quiet, ordinary, patriotic, religious, law-abiding Many, and the noisy, élitist, amoral, disorderly, condescending Few."
Thats an argument or tactic or belief within the context of the partisan split, not the split itself. |
