Rick Perry and the death penalty

RICK PERRY AND THE DEATH PENALTY: In spite of the significance they used to have in American politics, candidates' views on the death penalty no longer play a defining role, writes Juana Summers. Even for Rick Perry (whose home state of Texas is planning to add six more executions to the 'already record tally' it has accrued under his governorship), the death penalty is seen as an unlikely factor for realizing presidential ambitions. It states: "That’s a big change from the days when Bernard Shaw pressed Michael Dukakis at a 1988 debate about whether he’d still oppose the death penalty for someone who’d raped and murdered his wife, or when Bill Clinton took time off the trail in 1992 to attend the execution of a brain-damaged cop killer." That said, it is speculated on the second page of Summers' article that Perry's unequivocal support of the death penalty may play a role should he (shudder) win the nomination. “Opponents and critics of him, primarily from the Democratic side, are already singling him out. I think it will be an issue, and he’s pretty strong on it," Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, told Politico. As to whether it will play a major role in deciding the outcome of this year's election, I'm fairly certain (as are most others, surely) that it won't.