Democratic nominee Roy Cooper – currently leading in the polls - was Governor when a guy got out of prison and that guy later killed someone, so Cooper is responsible for the murder. USA Today: “This is not the first time that Republicans have stretched the truth to make Cooper appear weak on crime.”
What?!? Republicans making up sleazy claims against Democrats? Say it ain’t so!!!
That was the scam the Republicans used back then. And the Democrats at the national level and their campaign consultants still weren’t willing to take seriously enough how nasty the Republicans were willing to go to keep the White House.
This is a flashback report on that political episode from Retro Report (1):
That report plausibly suggests, though, that what hurt Dukakis even more was his seemingly passionless answer to a question asked by reporter Bernard Shaw during his Presidential debate against then-Vice President George H.W. Bush about what he would do if his wife were raped and murdered by someone. Dukakis’ bland-sounding response was disastrous.
Although legacy media loves to identify dramatic moments like that as decisive turning points, in that case it was at least a big negative for Dukakis.
He could have responded with something along the lines of: “If someone had said something to me like you just said in a bar, I would probably have just punched you in the face and then had your arrested for threating my wife in such a sleazy way. Try to have some dignity, dude.”
1988 was years before FOX News went on air and became the unofficial channel for the Republican Party. Conspiracy-mongers along the lines of Alex Jones and Glenn Beck in those days were more likely to be ranting on talk radio shows about UFOs or lizard-people from outer space than about Presidential politics. By 1992, Rush Limbaugh had become a Republican star with his own sneering “political humor” directed against Democrats.
According to Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich in the Retro Report account, Dukakis’ debate-prep team had encouraged him to counter such a question with a response about how he would always be on the side of crime victims. It’s notable that the Willy Horton ads were promoted by an “independent” group not officially connected with the Bush campaign, which was a relatively new thing in those days.
We can see in retrospect that the Republicans were already barreling toward the endless “Whitewater” scandals, the “Gingrich Revolution,” and the era of Forever Wars. But the belligerent tone of sneering contempt was there in Bush Sr.’s politics already. And with Trump 2.0, it has taken a quantum leap into the hostile madness that the current Republican President displays – at least in those moments where his statements and “Truth Social” posts are coherent at all.
Cooper was North Carolina’s attorney general for 16 years, so he has no trouble coming up with examples to show that he has a record as a “crime-fighter.”
Although in that ad, he does indulge in some needless “hippie-punching” by saying “no way do we defund the police.” “Defund the police” has long since become a stock Republican talking point against the Democrats, even though apparently no Democratic candidate nominee in 2026 is running on that slogan. There’s no reason to repeat a Republican talking point, although given Cooper’s credentials it doesn’t distract much from his message in this case.
Moral of this story: The Democrats have to show they will fight for their own side.
This post was originally published at the ProDA-Progressive Caucus of Democrats Abroad Substack.
Notes:
(1) Pequeño, Sara (2026): North Carolina loves Roy Cooper. All GOP has is misinformation. USA Today 09/03/2026. <https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/09/03/roy-cooper-senate-north-carolina-republicans/91546715007/> (Accessed: 2026-10-09).
(2) Willie Horton: Political Ads That Shaped the Battle for the White House. Retro Report YouTube channel 07/14/2016. <https://youtu.be/sdJ97qWHOxo?si=msMdqdy-wLZ4PnQW> (Accessed: 2026-10-09).
(3) Roy Cooper Tackles Safety in Latest Campaign Ad. Roy Cooper YouTube channel 01/24/2026. <https://youtu.be/3STxcgRAskQ?si=Z1hXnsuVeEhgYXQK> (Accessed: 2026-10-09).
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