Revolving Door (television advertisement)

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"Revolving Door" is a famous negative television commercial made for the 1988 United States Presidential Campaign. Along with the Willie Horton "Weekend Passes" advertisement, it is considered to be a prime factor in Michael Dukakis' defeat by George H. W. Bush.^[1] The ad was produced by political consultant Roger Ailes with help by Lee Atwater, and first aired on October 5, 1988. "Revolving door syndrome" is a term used in criminology to refer to recidivism, however, in the ad, the implication is one that prison sentences were of an inconsequential length.

1 Synopsis
2 Impact
3 Popular culture
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

The ad shows a line of convicts (portrayed by actors) casually walking in and out of a prison (filmed in Draper, Utah) by means of a revolving door. The narration states that when governor of Massachusetts, Dukakis vetoed mandatory minimum sentencing for drug dealers, that he vetoed the death penalty, and that he gave weekend furloughs to first-degree murderers. The narrator goes on to point out that while furloughed, many of the convicts committed crimes including kidnapping and rape, and are still at large. The ad concludes with the phrase: "Now Michael Dukakis says he wants to do for America what he's done for Massachusetts. America can't afford that risk!". The disclaimer at the end indicates the ad was paid for and endorsed by the Bush/Quayle campaign.

Perhaps due to negative response from some quarters of the supposed racial undertones of the "Willie Horton" ad, the convicts depicted in the "Revolving Door" ad were overwhelmingly caucasian. It has been noted, however, that most of the ones leaving the prison are, in fact, Black or Hispanic. Whether this was intentional or a chance occurrence is unknown.

[edit] Impact

A CBS News/New York Times poll showed that of all of the political ads of the 1988 presidential campaign, that this one had the greatest impact on respondents. The percentage of poll respondents who felt Bush was "tough enough" on crime rose from 23 percent in July of 1988 to 61 percent in late October of 1988 while the proportion saying Dukakis was "not tough enough" on crime rose from 36 to 49 percent during the same period.^[2]

Women particularly were affected by the ad. Said Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich, "The symbolism was very powerful...you can't find a stronger metaphor, intended or not, for racial hatred in this country than a black man raping a white woman....I talked to people afterward....Women said they couldn't help it, but it scared the living daylights out of them."^[2]

[edit] Popular culture

In the Simpsons episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Sideshow Bob runs an ad very similar to the Bush campaign ad. The narrator talks about the liberal "revolving door prison system". The narrator points out that the liberal mayor released two time convicted attempted murderer Sideshow Bob. The ad ends insisting that the viewer vote for the aforementioned two time convicted attempted murderer for mayor. (This satirizes the fact that politicians often turn against their own policies when it affects them, or their close friends in an adverse way).