Posted: May 18, 2015; updated: May 19, 2015

THE POLITICAL CAPITAL IN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

What do Tom Gordon, Chris Bullock, Bryan Townsend and Bryon Short have in common?

A) They are all Democrats

B) They all have visions of statewide office dancing in their heads

C) They could all need votes in a Democratic primary

D) They have all come out in favor of repealing the death penalty

E) Duh. All of the above

Legislative Hall has shown itself to be closely split on repealing capital punishment, except for convicted killers already on death row, and replacing it with life in prison.

Not so with the candidates-in-waiting for statewide office, the ones languishing in limbo in the event Beau Biden gets out of the way and sets off a rumble among his fellow Democrats for governor and for Delaware's lone congressional seat.

They are all for repeal, from Gordon, the New Castle County executive who used to be a police chief, being mentioned for governor, to Bullock, the New Castle County Council president who is also a minister and could go for congressman or lieutenant governor, to "The Briens," that is, Townsend the state senator and Short the state representative, both in the mix for congressman.

Repeal got through the state Senate in April by one vote, and then it failed to get out of the Judiciary Committee in the state House of Representatives last week by one vote.

Townsend voted for repeal, and the rest of them, not to be left out, injected themselves into the public hearing that was held before the vote confining the repeal bill to committee.

Not much else is as gripping as the death penalty. Samuel Johnson, the great English literary figure, observed with peerless gallows humor that nothing concentrates the mind as wonderfully as the prospect of a hanging, but he probably could have added, except maybe running for office.

Being for the death penalty could lead to political death in a Democratic primary. A nationwide poll, taken in March for the Pew Research Center, showed 56 percent overall thought execution was appropriate punishment for murder, but only 40 percent of Democrats did.

Notably, only Bullock, un-John-Kerry-like, was for repeal before he was for repeal.

"Maybe they're johnny-come-lately. My position is based on principle and not politics. Those without the capital get the punishment," Bullock said.

Not that anyone switched to repeal for political reasons, of course, although it is entirely conceivable that Gordon, the ex-chief, could get political credit for breaking with law enforcement, which is almost uniformly for keeping the death penalty.

Still, Gordon insisted there was nothing political about his stance, as he declared (or perhaps undeclared), "I haven't made a decision if I'm going to do anything [statewide]," and anyway, he figured it could actually cost him law-and-order voters while not bringing him progressives who will never be with him.

Gordon's change of mind about the death penalty -- "I didn't have much doubt about it when I was chief" -- came from deciding it was neither a deterrent nor fairly applied.

"I never knew a murderer to say, what state am I in. There's a tremendous racial disparity throughout the country and in Delaware. It's a class thing more than ever now," Gordon said.

Townsend, who signed on as a sponsor of the repeal legislation, acknowledged he had doubts about it -- "right up until I supported it."

It came from having a father who spent 30 years with the Newark police, but it was actually a conversation with his father that was key to bringing him around. As Townsend explained, "You see the boys in blue, and it kind of hits you. I see the uniform, and I think of my father. He took the position it doesn't seem to be working."

Short, also a sponsor of the repeal bill, said he came to oppose the death penalty  because he was intent on ensuring no innocent person was ever executed.

"This is an issue I've spent a lot of time thinking about," Short said. "I can't do it at the expense of an innocent person."

Thoughtful conclusions from all. Still, it probably does not hurt to note the Pew Research Center found 79 percent of Democrats see a risk of putting an innocent person to death, 71 percent of them do not consider capital punishment to be a deterrent, and 70 percent of them think minorities are more likely to face the death penalty. Duh.

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