For Bush, Trial by Death Penalty Appears Over

One down, 16 or so to go. Gary Graham is dead, but not so the issue of the death penalty for Texas governor George W. Bush, whose state is scheduled to execute an average of one death row inmate each week until the November elections.

To his credit, Bush managed to pick his way through the Graham minefield with surprising grace, metamorphosing in a few short weeks from casual executioner into the sorrowful presence so evident on Thursday night's execution coverage. That composed exterior may become quite familiar as the campaign wears on, says Professor Cal Jillson, chair of the Political Science Department at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "The Bush staff is starting to get a handle on how to deal with these executions," he says. "On Thursday, everything about Bush was studied: His voice, his expression, his body language. He wants to communicate that he takes this issue very seriously."

That modicum of solemnity could very well be enough to carry Bush through to November with a minimum of angst over this issue. Although at least one scheduled lethal injection — involving one suspect's deathbed insistence that his alleged accomplice is innocent — has the potential to incite Gary Graham-level protest, and the sheer frequency of executions could be exhausting for Bush's handlers, most people expect Bush to simply stick to his guns and ride out the storm. Of course, the public, as Bush likes to remind us, is on the governor's side: While fewer Americans support the death penalty today than the last low ebb in 1981, 66 percent still approve — a figure that should inspire a certain amount of confidence in the Bush camp. The other ray of sunshine for the Bush camp? Al Gore, who also supports the death penalty, has kept his mouth shut as Bush struggles with this issue, a sure sign the vice president wants nothing to do with the debate. When Gore makes forehead-slapping declarations like "We must be careful not to kill innocent people," he's really saying, "I remember what this did to Mike Dukakis."