National Republicans Reach Out With Bigger And Better Willie Horton Ad

Posted by | October 17, 2014 15:18 | Filed under: Contributors News Behaving Badly Politics Tommy Christopher Top Stories

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Even those too young to remember it know that the 1988 attack ads featuring furloughed murderer Willie Horton are the pinnacle of racist dog-whistle political campaigning, but a new commercial for Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) shows that Republicans are better than ever at reaching out to the same voters. Terry is locked in a tight battle with state Sen. Brad Ashford (D-Neb.), and has been haunted by comments he made when asked if he would keep his own paycheck during the 2013 government shutdown:

“Dang straight,” Terry told the Omaha World Herald for an Oct. 4, 2013, story. “I’ve got a nice house and a kid in college, and I’ll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That’s just not going to fly.”

Enter Nikko Jenkins, the Designated Black Bogeyman for this effort. Jenkins was released from prison under Nebraska’s “good time” law, and promptly murdered four people. At a press conference earlier this month, Terry rolled out the attack, but when he was asked if there was an ad in the works, he gave a curiously smirky response:

“No such commercial has been produced.”

Well, now it has. I’ll get to the details of the ad (like how the “good time” law was signed by a Republican governor) later, but the real point of the ad is to get the face-tattooed Jenkins’ picture next to Ashford’s. There’s also one other important aspect to this ad…READ MORE

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Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher

Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

14 responses to National Republicans Reach Out With Bigger And Better Willie Horton Ad

  1. rg9rts October 17th, 2014 at 15:28

    When in trouble ….slime works best

  2. rg9rts October 17th, 2014 at 15:28

    When in trouble ….slime works best

  3. tracey marie October 17th, 2014 at 16:43

    wow, they count on their racist goptp not knowing the details and facts…just be afraid message that has nothing to do with the Dem.

  4. tracey marie October 17th, 2014 at 16:43

    wow, they count on their racist goptp not knowing the details and facts…just be afraid message that has nothing to do with the Dem.

  5. m2old4bs October 17th, 2014 at 19:06

    Despicable.

  6. m2old4bs October 17th, 2014 at 19:06

    Despicable.

  7. Snick1946 October 17th, 2014 at 20:09

    This vile ad is running every 30 minutes on local TV stations here in Omaha- it’s like a punch in the gut. I have to wonder how the families of Jenkins’ victims feel about their loved ones being used as props in Terry’s smear campaign? I’d love to see at least one such family member go public with disgust and a request for terry to pull the ad.

  8. Snick1946 October 17th, 2014 at 20:09

    This vile ad is running every 30 minutes on local TV stations here in Omaha- it’s like a punch in the gut. I have to wonder how the families of Jenkins’ victims feel about their loved ones being used as props in Terry’s smear campaign? I’d love to see at least one such family member go public with disgust and a request for terry to pull the ad.

  9. Electriq October 17th, 2014 at 21:52

    A decent person simply wouldn’t produce such an ad or try to benefit from it.

  10. Electriq October 17th, 2014 at 21:52

    A decent person simply wouldn’t produce such an ad or try to benefit from it.

  11. Dwendt44 October 18th, 2014 at 00:40

    When your platform has nothing at all for the average voter, a smear campaign is the desperate result. I hope it blows up in their face.

  12. Dwendt44 October 18th, 2014 at 00:40

    When your platform has nothing at all for the average voter, a smear campaign is the desperate result. I hope it blows up in their face.

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