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Left Fears POW Swap Obama’s ‘Willie Horton’
Republicans will ‘ride’ issue through 2016 election
WND
Bowe Bergdahl
Liberal columnist Michael Tomasky is concerned “the right” will try to turn President Obama’s exchange of five senior Gitmo detainees for a U.S. soldier into “a Willie Horton moment,” warning Republicans will “ride” the issue to January 2017.
“Buckle up,” Tomasky writes in a Daily Beast column Monday. “The right is going to try to turn the Taliban prisoner swap for ‘deserter’ Bowe Bergdahl into a Willie Horton moment for the president – and they’ll ride it to January 2017.”
Horton was serving a life sentence without parole for murder when he was let out on a weekend furlough program supported by Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. Horton did not return from his reprieve and committed assault, armed robbery and rape. While Dukakis did not start the furlough program, Horton’s crimes became a major issue in the 1988 presidential campaign, beginning with ads in the Democratic Party primary by opponent Al Gore. In the general election, an independent political action committee not affiliated with Republican nominee George H.W. Bush featured Horton in a TV ad that labeled Dukakis soft on crime.
Reposted with permission
