Rein in the Rhetoric

I have always assumed that it is a wholly positive aspect of our political system that our officials are beholden to the beliefs and opinions of their constituents; that is the beauty of a representative democracy. I think I am seeing things a little differently since reading the editorial in the Austin American Statesman "Uphold the Texas Governor's Office & Rein in the Rhetoric." In this editorial, written by the Editorial Board of the Statesman, the authors insinuate that it is the long standing public support of the death penalty that encouraged Governor Perry to overlook new information in a death penalty appeal. The editorial states "Texas Governors and gubernatorial candidates, dealing with polls showing popular support for the death penalty, long have had no choice but to embrace it." The authors claim that Perry's appointments to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, his subsequent public proclamations of Willingham as a "monster", and his choice to ignore the new evidence presented by a fire expert, hired by the TFSC, Craig Beyler, are symptoms of this being a campaign season and Perry acting like a more like a candidate and less like an even-headed governor. This editorial seems geared towards proponents of the death penalty and to potential voters to call attention to the behavior of officials (and now incumbent candidates) during their campaigns. I wanted to know more about the case and was lucky to find in the comments by readers a link to and article in The New Yorker about the Wellingham case.

I have always been told that one important reason for having an representative democracy is that sometimes the masses are not always rational in their judgements, that a crowd is easily swayed by emotions and "rhetoric". The elected official is suppose to be the voice of reason, the level-headed thinker in the storm. I suppose that this role breaks down when the official is trying for re-election during their time in office, suddenly the freedom to think independently is gone when you are having to appeal to the general public. You have to do what they want, and people, unfortunately, are short-sighted and will remember the last thing that you did to excite or disappoint them.

I think that the editorial in the Statesman was well written, although the authors were definitely playing both sides of the field by not really coming straight out and saying what they thought about Perry's actions and instead only insinuating that his behavior was not up to par for that of a Governor. I enjoyed the article and it made me think about the downsides of representative democracy.