Activist Plans Own Pro-Bush Campaign

WASHINGTON — A conservative activist who helped orchestrate the “Willie Horton” ad against Democrat Michael S. Dukakis in 1988 announced Monday a $10-million independent effort to support President Bush’s reelection.

Floyd Brown indicated questions about Democratic front-runner Bill Clinton’s character would be likely grist for attack ads this fall financed by his independent Presidential Victory Committee.

“Every morning when I pick up the newspaper I feel like a kid in the candy store because Gov. Clinton has so many allegations bubbling up against him,” Brown said. “I don’t think any one allegation is big enough to beat him . . . but together in a cumulative way they show a lack of judgment.”

The Bush campaign said it neither needs nor wants Brown’s help. Four years ago, it disavowed the Horton ad that Brown helped orchestrate for another independent group. The ad focused on a Massachusetts murderer, released under the state’s furlough program, who raped a woman and slashed her boyfriend. Because Horton is black, the ad was considered a subtle way to raise the race issue against Dukakis.

The group’s activities fall under the category of independent political expenditures.