Analysis, Mr. Spock

When CNN's Bernard Shaw asked Michael Dukakis in 1988 whether he would favor the death penalty if his wife, Kitty, were raped and murdered, Dukakis answered, "No, I don't, Bernard, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life. I don't see any evidence that it's a deterrent, and I think there are better and more effective ways to deal with violent crime." Dukakis, then the governor of Massachusetts, reportedly said to an aide, "I blew it" as he left the debate stage.