Yesterday the results of a new Quinnipiac University Poll were released here, and the press release about the results start with this account of the results of questions about the death penalty (with my emphasis added):
In a simple question, American voters support the death penalty 58 - 33 percent for persons convicted of murder, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today.
But when offered a choice between the death penalty or life in prison with no chance of parole, American voters choose the life option 51 - 37 percent, the first time a majority of voters backed the life without parole option since the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll first asked this question in 2004.
There are deep party and gender divisions as Republicans back the death penalty 59 - 29 percent. Backing the life option are Democrats 73 - 19 percent and independent voters 49 - 37 percent. Women back the life option 56 - 33 percent. Men are divided as 45 percent back the life option and 42 percent support the death penalty. American voters are more united as they oppose 71 - 21 percent, including 57 - 35 percent opposition among Republicans, imposing the death penalty for persons convicted of selling drugs that cause a lethal overdose. Voters say 75 - 20 percent that this use of the death penalty would not help stop the opioid crisis.
But voters say 64 - 31 percent that the death penalty should not be abolished nationwide. Democrats are divided as 47 percent say abolish the death penalty and 46 percent say don't abolish it. Every other listed party, gender, education, age and racial group is opposed to abolishing the death penalty.
"It's a mixed message on a question that has moral and religious implications. Voters are perhaps saying, 'Keep the death penalty, but just don't use it," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. "Despite what President Donald Trump says, neither Democrats nor Republicans have the stomach for executing drug dealers," Malloy added.
The "mixed message" take away is obviously the right one, and it also means that both supporters and opponents of the death penalty can spin these results in any number of ways. But the result that only half of self-identified Democrats call for abolishing the death penalty strikes me as perhaps the most critical single finding and one that likely entails that the death penalty will not be abolished legislatively even in blue states in near future.
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