A single random, frightening crime can swing statewide and presidential elections

Evidence

This election was held in the context of the abduction, rape, and murder of Polly Klaas, a young girl who was kidnapped at knifepoint from a slumber party at her home. The randomness of the crime, which was committed in a middle-class neighborhood, frightened the public with the realization that anyone can be a victim. … In response to this tragedy, legislators drafted a “one-strike law” whereby rapists would be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Brown argued that it would be difficult to get convictions in rape cases under such an extreme law. She also opposed the death penalty on the moral grounds that it conflicted with her religious values but said that as governor she would enforce it. In addition to illegal immigration, Wilson made Brown’s apparent “softness on crime” the mainstay of his reelection campaign. Television ads portrayed him as a tough crime fighter, questioned Brown’s commitment to the one-strike law, and used her opposition to the death penalty as evidence that she lacked the courage to be tough on crime. … Brown objected to Wilson’s misrepresentations of her position on crime and criticized him for “exploiting the pain of rape victims to cover up his failed record” (Stall, 1994). Brown’s initially large lead rapidly eroded, and she was defeated in the election. Both this case and that of Michael Dukakis illustrate how a socially threatening, fortuitous event can help determine the outcomes of gubernatorial and presidential elections. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1864

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the post-Dukakis ‘Willie Horton’ and ‘soft on crime’ campaign literature; also echoes the moral-panic dynamics in One Square Inch of Silence chapter material about fear-driven policy.
• CANDY: The Polly Klaas one-strike law story shows how one random crime in a middle-class neighborhood can redraw the entire crime-policy map of a state election.