George HW Bush's Pro-Cop Stunt (1988)
This Day
Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia
4.6 • 982 Ratings
🗓️ 26 September 2024
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's September 26th. This day in 1988 George HW Bush holds a rally in Boston featuring police officers who were supporting his campaign -- a stunt meant to rattle his opponent Michael Dukakis, the Governor of Massachusetts.
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the back-and-forth police press conferences that ensued, and the larger question of why Republicans have tended to own the "tough on crime" and pro-police mantle.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia. |
| 0:07.0 | My name is Jody Avergan. |
| 0:09.0 | This day, September 26, 1988, folks, it is the heart of election season. |
| 0:15.6 | We are going to be doing lots of election-related episodes over the next month or so, including |
| 0:19.6 | some special episodes on Sundays where we're going to focus on this year's election. |
| 0:24.0 | But let's go back to another really fascinating election we've touched on from time to time, |
| 0:28.5 | 1988 between Bush and Dukakis, and this is a moment when George H.W. Bush shows up in Dukakis's backyard, |
| 0:37.5 | Boston, Massachusetts, to accept an endorsement from the Boston Police Union just days before the first debate of that |
| 0:45.6 | election. There is so much to dissect with this moment. It is a pretty effective |
| 0:50.4 | stunt. It's also a reminder of how the GOP has always been |
| 0:53.7 | able to own the Back the Blue Tough on Crime mantle and of course many of you will |
| 0:59.0 | know the 1988 is the year of that infamous Willie Horton ad which maligned |
| 1:04.0 | due caucus for releasing a man from prison and was also kind of definitely |
| 1:07.6 | super pretty freaking racist but really fit into this GOP |
| 1:12.0 | narrative of being tough on crime. |
| 1:13.7 | So here to discuss why the party of red always seems to back the blue |
| 1:19.0 | are, as always, Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Welsley. |
| 1:23.2 | Hello there. |
| 1:24.0 | Hello Jody. |
| 1:25.4 | Hey there. |
| 1:26.3 | Does it feel like election season is clicking into high gear given what we're talking about on the show and also the clock is ticking, the calendar. |
| 1:36.4 | That calendar, it just keeps passing. Someone said the other day when I was talking to them, |
... |
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