Candidates' death penalty stances different, but same

It's a two-sided scene that has played out more than 140 times since Texas Gov. George W. Bush took office in 1995. At one end, a convicted murderer lies motionless, strapped to a gurney in a Huntsville, Texas prison while awaiting the flow of a lethal solution of drugs into his body. On the other end, final authorization papers hit the desk of the Texas chief executive. Bush, acting in concert with the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, must make the final decision on whether to put a hold on the execution proceedings or allow them to go forward according to the law and the mandate of the courts. The scenario is not unfamiliar to the Republican presidential candidate. On all but one occasion over the past five years, he has chosen the latter option, invoking the state's highest criminal penalty and ending the lives of 145 convicted killers. As the 2000 presidential campaign season enters its final days, Bush's record as governor of Texas -- where more executions are carried out per year than in any other state -- is drawing fire as observers on both sides of the death penalty debate the issue and its relevance in the upcoming election. And as comparisons are made between Bush and Vice President Al Gore, the death penalty remains an issue on which the two have the same fundamental stance. "Neither one of them have gone to any of the core issues in this debate," National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty spokeswoman Tonya McClary said. "They're still giving the standard line without really paying attention to the factors that really influence death penalty opinions." In an agreement that is decidedly uncharacteristic for the two White House contenders, both Bush and Gore say that they support the death penalty as a means of deterrence and punishment. But while Gore has said little on the death penalty in public, Bush has used several forums -- including the presidential debates -- to publicly discuss the issue and his controversial track record, which he says has more to do with fighting crime than ending lives. "Governor Bush believes that ultimately the death penalty saves lives," Bush campaign spokesman Ken Lisaius said. "If it didn't, he'd have to rethink his support. But when administered swiftly, justly and fairly it indeed does save lives." "His record speaks volumes on his commitment to reducing crime and to his [crime-reducing] accomplishments in Texas," Lisaius added. Several experts disagree, saying that the popular assessment of the death penalty as an effective deterrent is flat-out wrong. "There's no evidence that the death penalty does anything to reduce homicides," Fels Center of Government Director and Sociology Professor Lawrence Sherman said. Sherman, who serves as president of the International Society of Criminology, added that Gore's support of the issue -- an uncharacteristic stand for a traditional liberal Democrat -- may be based more on politics than on policy. "Certainly many liberals, who support Gore for lots of reasons, feel he's saying that because he would get too much negative response if he didn't," Sherman said. "The reason Gore did not go after Bush on issues of racial disparity and sheer volume of executions may be that it would make it appear that he's against the death penalty -- and that would be political suicide." Officials from the Gore campaign did not return repeated calls for comment. Despite the two candidates' similar stances, anti-death penalty activists contend that the enormous execution trend in Texas -- where 70 criminals have already been put to death this year alone -- is going to eventually negatively affect the Bush campaign. McClary said that Bush's approach to the topic during the final presidential debate -- in which he discussed the punishment handed out to three men convicted in the 1998 racially-motivated dragging death of a black man -- is a perfect example of the Texas governor's misguided approach. "I think that it's not only [Bush's] record, but also how people perceive him," McClary said. "During the presidential debates, he's come off as being very cocky and indifferent toward the death penalty. His record combined with what people see in him is really going to make the difference."