"It Takes Balls to Execute an Innocent Man"

Back in 2004, Texas Governor Rick Perry went ahead with the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, despite the mountains of evidence that Willingham was innocent of the heinous crime of which he was accused.

If readers are unfamiliar with the case, the Captain recommends this New Yorker piece which describes it in vivid detail. Long story short, it's virtually certain that Willingham did not commit the crime and it's even more certain that Rick Perry was fully aware of this fact.

You might think Perry's direct involvement in this deplorable miscarriage of justice would be an electoral liability with voters. But if we're talking about Texas Republican voters, you'd be sorely mistaken.

Perry would also have to answer for parts of his record that have either never been fully scrutinized in Texas, or that might be far more problematic before a national audience.

Veterans of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s unsuccessful 2010 primary challenge to Perry recalled being stunned at the way attacks bounced off the governor in a strongly conservative state gripped by tea party fever. Multiple former Hutchison advisers recalled asking a focus group about the charge that Perry may have presided over the execution of an innocent man – Cameron Todd Willingham – and got this response from a primary voter: “It takes balls to execute an innocent man.”

[Politico] via [Jonathan Chait]