There is no good reason for a Democratic presidential nominee to support the death penalty.

[Ken Burch]

The president plays virtually no role in the question of whether or not anyone gets executed, and even most death penalty supporters aren't obsessed with having a president who supports state murder.

[jeff47]

1. Uh....yeah, they have a huge role in whether or not someone gets executed.

They oversee the Department of Justice via the Attorney General, and they also have pardon/clemency power.

They don't have a say in state cases, but the president is the person with the most say in federal cases.

[NCTraveler]

2. In 2012 I don't think the party platform stated opposition.

I don't remember it showing support either. It had verbiage about the need for review and DNA.

Not backing Clinton on her position, as I'm opposed to the death penalty, just pointing out that it is not a deal breaker to being a democrat. Many really solid progressives are flaky on this issue. Doesn't mean they should be disqualified from running for president as a democrat.

[Fearless]

3. Not opposing it shows support of the status quo.

[taught_me_patience]

4. there are plenty of reasons

Nobody makes voting decision based on this issue, so it makes sense to just go with public sentiment on this one.

[hrmjustin]

5. I am against the death penalty but know good people who are for it.

[Cheese Sandwich]

6. If you used to support it and then change people will call you a flip-flopper

Which is particularly bad if you already have a reputation as a champion flip flopper.

That's pretty much the only reason to support the death penalty at this point.

[restorefreedom]

7. i think it is important to be clear

it says something about the country and the power of the state over its citizens

a president/candidate should have a position

preferably, imo, against

[liberal_at_heart]

8. The Democratic Party is a lot different now than it used to be.

A lot of Democrats now support the death penalty and war, as long as a Democrat is in charge. They are against them when there is a Republican in the White House.

[dsc]

12. that is plain flat out bull

The percent of Democrats supporting the death penalty has gone done, and gone down alot, since the 1970's. It is a large part of the reason support overall for it has dropped.

[oasis]

9. 9/11 and the Boston Marathon terrorists changed a lot of minds.

[davidn3600]

11. The idea that the death penalty will deter terrorists is incredibly stupid

9/11 terrorists hijacked airplanes and crashed them into buildings.

You really think a lethal injections would make them think twice? They killed themselves!

Many of these terrorists want to die. They want to be a martyr.

[oasis]

13. Incredibly stupid or not, terrorism has slowed down the trend

For leniency. As for myself, I'm not passionate about one way or the other on the subject.

[davidn3600]

14. But that's not even who we are executing

The people we execute are mainly minority and always poor. How many white guys are sitting on death row right now who had a lot of money when they were arrested?

How many terrorists have we actually executed? And I am not talking about ones we killed on the battlefield. I'm talking about ones we tried, convicted, and executed.

If this is such a big issue with people, just make the death penalty apply to cases of terrorism or serial killing. But like I said, the people who commit such acts are psychopaths. They won't be deterred.

[oasis]

15. I agree, but the American public isn't yet ready.

If anyone running for president doesn't want to stick their neck out for killers, I can't hold it against them.