Tell me the PERSONAL attacks that Atwater used.
Beyond the Willie Horton ad, one of the best known in American history, I particularly enjoyed his ad for Ronald Reagan in which Jimmy Carter was portrayed in a series of increasingly sad sack images while the soundtrack played, "I remember you, you're the one who made feel so blue..."
Now you tell me where you got your alleged "fact" that attack ads only work in the last few days of a campaign, assuming you aren't simply inventing all of your assertions.