John Kerry and Capital Punishment

John Nichols points out that the Democratic platform, for the first time since 1980, will not endorse the death penalty. He (quite correctly) attributes this to Kerry's personal beliefs rather than political pragmatism, but I can't help but feel that it is also a ripe moment in American history, where the opportunity exists for us as a society to finally back away from the increasingly draconian punishments inflicted over the last 25 years.