Who is surprised by Obama's position on the death penalty? If it was a litmus test, why not before?

[ProSense]

Today, the Obama camp likes to paint its man as anti-death penalty with a few exceptions. "Obama opposes the death penalty except for terrorists, serial killers and child-murderers," two reporters wrote in the Hill last spring, "but his campaign added that he does not support the death penalty as it is currently administered in this country."

Or, as one blogger wrote last year, "In a nutshell: He's pro-death penalty, but he is also pro-let's not execute the wrong guy."

Who isn't "pro-let's not execute the wrong guy"?

If Obama's Chicago years dampened his support for the death penalty, one would think Edwards' Senate tenure and time in the courtroom would have turned him off to the death penalty altogether. His years in office saw the exonerations of three death row prisoners from North Carolina's death row, a 2001 study finding deep racial bias in the state's death penalty system, and a historic vote in 2003 that would make the state senate the first legislative body in the South to pass moratorium legislation. Yet he held on to his support for the death penalty.

When Edwards was asked at the Yearly Kos convention last summer to reconcile his "two Americas" rhetoric with support of a punishment that disproportionately condemns poor people of color to die (full disclosure: I was the questioner), Edwards gave a lengthy answer that, boiled down, called for death to killers of children. More recently, on NPR's Talk of the Nation, responding to a caller concerned about his support for capital punishment, Edwards acknowledged the racial bias, the problem of wrongful convictions, unequal legal representation -- he even talked about the trouble with "death qualified juries." Nevertheless, he defended his pro-death penalty stance.

And then there's Hillary. Perhaps even more than Obama or Edwards, Hillary has avoided discussing capital punishment on the campaign trail. As a senator representing a state that got rid of the death penalty during her tenure, at the same time that the Ashcroft and Gonzales-led Department of Justice sought to prosecute more federal capital cases in New York, Hillary has had precious little to say about the death penalty in the past few years. She supports it, of course -- has for years -- and she, like her opponents, also supports "reforms." In 2003, she co-sponsored the Innocence Protection Act, to make DNA testing available for individuals sentenced to death under federal law. Penance, perhaps, for having helped to curtail death row appeals in the '90s.

link

Most Candidates Wrong on Death Penalty

[IndianaJones]

1. Obama not operating from the fringe left is a good thing. nt.

[redqueen]

4. Yup... I'm anti-death penalty, but there's a time and place.

And Obama's smart enough to be playing to the middle right now.

[IndianaJones]

5. Lets actually get the guy in the White House before we start criticizing his policy positions. nt.

[FrenchieCat]

2. But that's not important!

:sarcasm:

[Teaser]

3. I don't care.

I'm anti-death penalty. I also realize that America, as a whole, is not. And its politicians reflect this. Change the culture first, and maybe the leaders will change too.

[ProSense]

20. Start with a Democrat in the WH n/t

[blondeatlast]

6. Since I was torn after my two primary candidates withdrew, I took a look at both candidates.

I KNOW precisely what their positions are and were, and made my choice.

Ignorance is no excuse, DUers--and you are displaying your ignorance if you are just finding out about this now. It matters not which candidate we are discussing, either.

[John Q. Citizen]

11. Obama flip flopped on FISA but not on the death penalty. You are correct.

Obama went from saying he would filibuster immunity and warrantless wiretapping to supporting it.

So while I'm not at all upset about his opinion on a settled case the Supreme Court ruled on (even though I'm against the death penalty)

I am quite upset about his FISA position.

I feel lied to.

[JVS]

7. Whoever complains about this and backed anyone other than Kucinich should STFU

[redqueen]

10. But isn't our goal now to try to mold him into Kucinich?

Between now and November, shouldn't we attack! attack! attack! every time he fails to be more Kucinichy?

I mean... it's not as if it's the GE, and we have to have Independent votes or anything...

[johnnie]

8. They almost all are "pro-death penalty"

There are a small percentage of voters who say "no death penalty no way no how" and are small percentage who says "kill 'em all", but the majority of voters are in some way pro DP. It is in the best interest of a politician running for an office to be in some way pro.

[sandnsea]

9. Kerry was against the death penalty

And he wasn't progressive enough for the left either. Fuck em.

[dsc]

12. not in every case

he backed it for people who murdered children and for terrorists.

[ProSense]

13. Wrong, see the OP. In fact, Kerry co-sponsored this bill

S.132
Title: A bill to place a moratorium on executions by the Federal Government and urge the States to do the same, while a National Commission on the Death Penalty reviews the fairness of the imposition of the death penalty.
Sponsor: Sen Feingold, Russell D. (introduced 1/9/2003) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 1/9/2003 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COSPONSORS(4), ALPHABETICAL : (Sort: by date)
Sen Corzine, Jon S. - 1/9/2003 Sen Durbin, Richard - 1/9/2003
Sen Kerry, John F. - 4/29/2003 Sen Levin, Carl - 1/9/2003


SUMMARY AS OF:
1/9/2003--Introduced.

National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2003 - Prohibits the Federal Government from carrying out the death penalty until Congress considers the final findings and recommendations of the National Commission on the Death Penalty, enacts legislation repealing this provision, and implements or rejects the guidelines and procedures recommended by the Commission. Expresses the sense of Congress that States should enact a moratorium on executions to allow time to review whether their administration of the death penalty is consistent with constitutional requirements of fairness, justice, equality, and due process.

Establishes the National Commission on the Death Penalty to: (1) determine whether administration of the death penalty comports with such constitutional requirements; and (2) establish guidelines and procedures which ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially in accordance with due process, minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed, and ensure that the death penalty is not administered in a racially discriminatory manner.

[dsc]

17. sorry I did think he supported it for child killers

but was wrong.

[sandnsea]

14. Only terrorists, after 9/11 n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

15. This is a fringe issue that just causes trouble...

in any election.

The only politician I can remember who managed to survive his anti-death penalty position was Mario Cuomo, and that didn't last too long. His DP position didn't kill him off, but it didn't help him one bit, even among many anti-DP people.

The DP is poison-- it's been remarked that support for it is a mile wide but skin deep but there is that mile to deal with. It's one of those issues that very few people think about without being reminded, but when they are reminded, no politician gains votes by being against it but they can lose a lot of votes that way.

So, try to avoid it at all costs, and if you have to say something, mumble about how it should be "corrected."

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Obama supports the death penalty...

as much as John McCain supports electric cars.

[blondeatlast]

18. Exactly. nt

[GihrenZabi]

19. The argument for anti-DP

It rests on a single proposition.

"The State never has the moral authority to take the life of an individual."

I like to break these things down to the bare bones.

Arguments about the racial bias of the death penalty are not arguments against the death penalty - they are arguments about the way it is applied.

Arguments about innocent men being released off death row are not arguments against the death penalty - they are arguments about the way we collect and apply evidence in criminal cases.

To discuss the death penalty and express your views, I proffer the case of Neil Entwhistle. He is white, well-to-do, had proper legal representation, and is guilty as hell of murdering his wife AND INFANT DAUGHTER.

Other than relying upon "The State never has the moral authority to take the life of an individual," explain why this monster:

1) Does not deserve to die
2) Deserves to be kept alive at the sufferance of the public, who has to pay for it

[ProSense]

21. Evidently, some are still unaware of Obama's position. n/t