SIDE WAS LYING.
>> IT'S NOT JUST IN PERSON THAT
THESE CANDIDATES SPAR.
THE NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN ADS ARE
FLYING FAST AND FURIOUS IN THIS
HIGH STAKES, HIGH COST RACE.
THE AIRWAVES ARE FLOODED WITH
ADS FROM LIBERAL CANDIDATE JANET
PROTASIEWICZ, WHO IS OUTSPENDING
CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE DANIEL
KELLY, BUT ONE AD FROM KELLY
HEARKENS BACK TO A PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION 35 YEARS AGO IN AN
ADVERTISEMENT WELL KNOWN FOR ITS
APPEAL TO RACIST FEARS OVER
CRIME.
>> BUSH AND DUKAKIS ON CRIME.
BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEATH PENALTY
FOR FIRST-DEGREE MURDERERS.
DUKAKIS NOT ONLY OPPOSES THE
DEATH PENALTY, HE ALLOWED
FIRST-DEGREE MURDERERS TO HAVE
WEEKEND PASSES FROM PRISON.
ONE WAS WILLIE HORTON, WHO
MURDERED A BOY IN A ROBBERY,
STABBING HIM 19 TIMES.
>> IT WAS THE WILLIE HORTON AD
FROM THE GEORGE BUSH CAMPAIGN IN
1988 THAT SUNK CANDIDATE MICHAEL
DUKAKIS OVER A PRISON FURLOUGH
PROGRAM.
NOW LOOK AT THIS AD FROM DANIEL
KELLY.
>> DANIEL KELLY AND JANET
PROTASIEWICZ ARE CRIME.
JUSTICE KELLY SUPPORTS ENFORCING
THE RULE OF LAW AND KEEPING OUR
COMMUNITIES SAFE.
AS A MILWAUKEE JUDGE, JANET
PROTASIEWICZ HAS A LONG HISTORY
OF LETTING DANGEROUS CRIMINALS
OFF EASY.
>> THE 1988 KELLY'S AD DOES NOT
INCLUDE THE MUGSHOT OF THE BLACK
DEFENDANT.
>> HERE TO TALK ABOUT THIS,
LACROSSE POLITICAL SCIENCE
PROFESSOR, ANTHONY CHERGOSKY.
THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US.
>> THANK YOU.
>> SO AS A POLITICAL SCIENCE,
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU
SAW THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN
KNOWS TWO ADS?
>> I WAS VERY INTRIGUED BY IT,
FREDERICA, BECAUSE THE WILLIE
HORTON AD HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY
STUDIED BY POLITICAL SCIENTISTS.
THERE'S EVIDENCE THAT THE WILLIE
HORTON AD ACTIVATED RACIAL
ATTITUDES.
IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN THE HORTON
AD RAN IN THE 1988 PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN, IT MADE PEOPLE START
TO THINK ABOUT RACE AND TAKE
RACE INTO CONSIDERATION IN A WAY
THAT WASN'T TRUE BEFORE THE AD
RAN.
AND SO FOR THAT REASON, THE
WILLIE HORTON AD IS VIEWED AS
ONE OF THE MOST INFAMOUS AD OF
ALL TIME IN PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION HISTORY.
>> WERE YOU SURPRISED WHEN YOU
SAW THE PRODUCTION STYLE
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE HORTON
AD AND THE DANIEL KELLY AD?
>> IT CERTAINLY FITS IN WITH
KELLY'S EMPHASIS ON CRIME.
WE KNOW THAT THE WILLIE HORTON
AVID WAS ALL ABOUT CRIME AND
TRYING TO CREATE THE SENSE THAT
IF MICHAEL DUKAKIS WAS ELECTED,
THEN THERE WOULD BE RAMPANT
CRIME ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND
IT MADE PEOPLE FEARFUL OF CRIME.
AND AGAIN, IT ACTIVATED THOSE
RACIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND THOSE
RACIAL ATTITUDES JUST AS IT
ACTIVATED THOSE FEELINGS ABOUT
CRIME.
SO, TO ME, THE BIG DIFFERENCE IS
THE LACK OF A MUGSHOT.
THAT IS THE BIG STYLISTIC
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO ADS.
ALSO, IT JUST FITS IN WITH THIS
BROADER THEME ON CRIME.
DAN KELLY WANTS TO ADVANCE THE
NARRATIVE THAT JANET
PROTASIEWICZ IS WEAK ON CRIME
AND SO HE HEARKENS BACK TO THIS
CLASSIC AD THAT REALLY MADE
PEOPLE THINK ABOUT CRIME IN A
VERY INTENSE WAY.
>> AND YET THERE'S A WHOLE
GENERATION AT LEAST OF PEOPLE
WHO HAVE REALLY NEVER HEARD OF
WILLIE HORTON OR THAT WILLIE
HORTON AD.
SO IS THIS APPEAL TO AN OLDER
DEMOGRAPHIC?
>> IT COULD BE, FREDERICA.
IT COULD BE AN ATTEMPTS TO
CREATE SOME BUZZ.
IT COULD ALSO JUST BE AN EFFORT
TO MEAN GET PEOPLE THINKING
ABOUT POLITICS IN A WAY THAT
THEY THOUGHT ABOUT POLITICS LONG
AGO IN 1988.
IN THE '80s, THINGS WERE MUCH
DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF PEOPLE'S
RACIAL ATTITUDES, HOW PEOPLE
THOUGHT ABOUT RACE AND HOW
PEOPLE THOUGHT ABOUT CRIME.
IT WAS A DIFFERENT CONTEXT.
SO THIS COULD BE KIND OF AN
EFFORT TO RECAPTURE SOME OF THAT
CONTEXT FROM THE '80s TO
REMIND PEOPLE OF WHAT LIFE WAS
LIKE IN THE 1980s AND TO MAKE
PEOPLE SCARED OF GOING BACK TO
THAT TYPE OF SITUATION, AND JUST
TO CREATE BUZZ.
WE KNOW THAT DAN KELLY HAS BEEN
OUTSPENT BY JANET PROTASIEWICZ.
DAN KELLY HAS NOT RUN NEARLY AS
MANY COMMERCIALS AS JANET
PROTASIEWICZ HAS.
ONE WAY TO RESPOND IN THAT TYPE
OF ENVIRONMENT, ONE WAY TO DEAL
WITH THAT TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT IS
TO TRY TO CREATE SOME BUZZ, SOME
WORD OF MOUTH, AND THAT MIGHT BE
WHAT HE'S TRYING TO DO IN THIS
SITUATION.
>> SO WE KNOW THAT THIS
PARTICULAR DAN KELLY AD DOES NOT
SHOW THE MUGSHOT OF THE BLACK
DEFENDANT, BUT THERE ARE
THIRD-PARTY GROUPS, OF COURSE,
THAT ARE AIRING ADS ON HIS
BEHALF THAT DO.
THERE'S ONE SHOWING WHO SHADOWY
MUGSHOTS OF BLACK DEFENDANTS.
SO HAS THE WILLIE HORTON RACE
CARD PLAYBOOK REEMERGED IN HIGH
STAKES RACES IN WISCONSIN?
>> IT'S INTERESTING, FREDERICA
FREYBERG.
WHEN WE LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE
RESEARCH ON THE WILLIE HORTON
AD, WE KNOW THAT IT ACTIVATED
PEOPLE'S RACIAL ATTITUDES IN THE
CONTEXT OF THE 1988 CAMPAIGN,
BUT WHAT IT WAS CALLED OUT FOR
BEING RACIST, WHEN PEOPLE
STARTED TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT
THE WILLIE HORTON CAMPAIGN AD,
THEN THE EFFECT OF THE WILLIE
HORTON AD ACTUALLY DIMINISHED
AND PEOPLE'S RACIAL ATTITUDES
BECAME SOMEWHAT LESS RELEVANT IN
HOW THEY THOUGHT ABOUT THE
SITUATION.
SO THIS COULD BE WHAT HAPPENS
THIS TIME AROUND.
AS PEOPLE ARE MAYBE
SUBCONSCIOUSLY THINKING ABOUT
RACE, IT HAS SOME PARTICULAR
EFFECT.
AS PEOPLE THINK ABOUT RACE IN A
MORE CONCRETE MATTER, IT COULD
HAVE A DIFFERENT EFFECT.
WE KNOW THAT THAT IS EXACTLY
WHAT PLAYED OUT IN 1988, WHERE
RACIAL HAD THIS RACE -- RACIAL
ATTITUDES HAVE THESE UNDERLYING
ELEMENT OF PEOPLE'S
CONSIDERATIONS AND THEN WHEN THE
AD WAS CALLED OUT FOR BEING
RACIST, THEN PEOPLE STARTED TO
REJECT THE AD AND STARTED TO
THINK ABOUT THE AD IN A
DIFFERENT WAY.
>> IN TERMS OF THIS DAN KELLY AD
THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, WE
WANTED TO DO JUST A LITTLE MINI
FACTS CHECK.
THESE ARE ONLY 30-SECOND ADS BUT
THE AD SAYS THAT THIS DEFENDANT
FACED 60 YEARS IN PRISON.
IN FACT, THE DEFENDANT FACED
FIVE YEARS IN PRISON AND FIVE
YEARS ON PROBATION AFTER THE
CHARGES WERE AMENDED DOWN.
PROTASIEWICZ GAVE HIM ONE YEAR
IN A MEDIUM SECURITY JAIL BUT
THE FULL 10 YEARS IF HE WAS
REVOKED AND THAT APPARENTLY NOW
A REVOCATION IS IN PROCESS AND
THIS DEFENDANT IS IN JAIL, SO
THERE'S THE FULL STORY THAT YOU
CAN'T GET INTO A COMMERCIAL.
NOW, ONE PROTASIEWICZ AD ACCUSES
KELLY OF CORRUPTION FOR STEPPING
ASIDE FROM A CASE AND THEN
JOINING BACK IN AFTER GETTING
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE
FAMILY OF A PARTY IN THE CASE,
BUT THE KELLY CAMPAIGN CALLS
THIS ASSERTION OF CORRUPTION A
LIE, SAYING HE ONLY REJOINED
WHEN HE LOST THE 2020 ELECTION
AND THEN HE DIDN'T GO ON TO RULE
ON THE CASE.
SO THESE ADS FROM THE CANDIDATES
LEAVE OUT DETAIL, OF COURSE, BUT
WHAT ARE VOTERS TO MAKE OF THESE
ATTACK ADS ON BOTH SIDES?
EXISTING RECORD FOR THE MOST
EXPENSIVE JUDICIAL ELECTION EVER
IN UNITED STATES HISTORY.
WE KNOW THAT THE ATTACK ADS ARE
GOING BACK AND FORTH AND WE KNOW
THAT THOSE ADS LEAVE OUT A LOT
OF CONTEXT.
IT'S UP TO THE VOTERS TO MAKE AN
INFORMED DECISION, KNOWING THAT
THE 30-SECOND ADS ARE NOT THE
MOST RELIABLE INDICATORS OF HOW
A JUDGE MIGHT OPERATE WHEN THEY
ARE IN OFFICE.
YOU HAVE TO PUT THESE ADS INTO
CONTEXT.
YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE FACTS
ABOUT THESE ADS BECAUSE THE SPIN
DOCTORS ARE OUT THERE TRYING TO
INFLUENCE PEOPLE WITH THESE
30-SECOND COMMERCIALS.