He is a curious mix, our Governor. Later on today I shall have my tome-like response to Governor Markell’s thesis on Third Way Politics in the Atlantic last week. The Governor’s third way politics is unique. He champions progressive policies on the social level (if you exclude education and marijuana from that definition) to hide the fact that he is no progressive economically or educationally. Anti-Discrimination law, Civil Unions, Marriage Equality, and now the repeal of the Death Penalty:
Democratic Gov. Jack Markell has come out in support of an effort to repeal Delaware’s death penalty. Markell said Thursday that if a bill to abolish capital punishment reaches his desk, he would sign it.
In recent years, Markell has refused to say where he stands on the issue. But Markell said the recent acknowledgment by the FBI that examiners in its microscopic hair comparison unit gave flawed testimony in more than 250 criminal cases, including death penalty cases, before 2000, helped him reach a decision.
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, and am pleased that the Governor has taken this stand. I just wish we had the whole package.