Markell Continues the Social Progressive Dance

Filed in Delaware by on May 8, 2015

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.

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  1. Sean Lynn says:

    I am incredibly pleased that the Governor has come out in favor of Repeal, at long last.

    Please keep your fingers crossed for Wednesday.

  2. kavips says:

    Actually Deldem. they are all smart choices that have been clouded by Republican emotionalism for too long…

    It is smart to repeal the Death Penalty… The only reason not to, is emotional.
    It was smart to normalize gays into mainstream society… The reason not to, again emotional. And Jack is a smart guy, more Spock than Bones.

    Which is why the marijuana and educational flops are so puzzling. On both it could be he is simply been too enclosed in his office so that lines of communication now give a false read on what the public thinks is right? Because the marijuana for a while looked like it had his blessing, (having an 18 year son could play a dad’s role in not going forward too fast), and the education agenda based on what was originally announced, even had me sold….

    The education failure will be eventually be explained by historians as the result of having a second-term staff that could not rise to his lofty expectations… (Notice with Selander’s departure how the governor’s actions went from saint to sinner). As one illustrative example, had the Smarter Balanced Assessment turned out to actually be a great test, (look back far enough and I once sang its praises) living up to it’s full potential, those few against it would now be prophets in the wilderness. But it is far from harmless; it arsenic in the water. And that is where Jack went wrong.

    Just like he supported a power plant for jobs (great, right?) that would spew super-highly toxic carcinogens all over New Castle County (duh, what was he thinking).

    In one hyphenated word the governor is tone-deaf… He only hears what’s between his own two ears… that would be my take on it. Now that I think of it, that is a normal personality trait among those (corporate execs for example) who are no longer accountable to anyone… If you need votes, you tend to put your ear to the ground a lot more often. Obviously, that is exactly what is not happening.