10/12/00 12:35 p.m.
Death Becomes You
Gore goes Byrd hunting.

By NR's John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru

uch is being made of George W. Bush misstating the punishments meted out to the three men responsible for killing James Byrd in Jasper, Texas. "Guess what's going to happen to them? They're going to be put to death," said Bush.

Actually, only two of them were sentenced to death. The third received a life sentence.

The folks in Nashville would love to capitalize on this minor gaffe by forcing Bush to issue some kind of Gore-like mea culpa, in which he admits it's possible to make small mistakes about details without really lying. As Gore said last night, in one of his worst moments, "I got some of the details wrong last week in some of the examples that I used, Jim, and I'm sorry about that. And I'm going to try to do better." (Go get 'em, li'l slugger!)

The problem for Gore, however, is the subject matter: the death penalty. Jeep dealerships love it when "consumer advocates" scream that S.U.V.s are deadly in accidents because they crush fuel-efficient roadsters like tiny bugs. Viewers come to a conclusion different from the Naderite, ban-all-S.U.V.s line. Many decide that buying an S.U.V. is in fact the best driver-protection plan available. Likewise, reminding voters that Texas puts lots, and lots, and lots of people to death — including a couple of thugs involved in a terrible truck-dragging murder — just might reassure them that Bush is deadly serious when it comes to making criminals suffer consequences for their actions. What's more, the Democrat-sponsored hate crimes bill does not authorize the death penalty so all of James Byrd's killers would have received only life sentences.

Bush should have lost the smirk when he talked about the Texas death penalty last night, and he also should have gotten his facts straight. But his small blunder may lead Gore's people into a bigger one, if they try to pursue it. As Gore said last night, "I will promise you this, with all the confidence in my heart and in the world, that I will do my best, if I'm elected president, I'll work my heart out to get the big things right for the American people."

When the subject is crime and punishment, most voters are bound to think that Bush gets the big things right.

On the Site
Richard Lowry on Bush's toughness.
Ramesh Ponnuru on how Bush “clobbered” Gore in the second debate.
Debate reactions from Michael Ledeen, Rob Long, Debra Saunders, and others.