Let me follow up on Kent's post pointing out the limited importance of demographics with a footnote about the demographics of support for the death penalty. The data are a bit dated (they're six years old), but overall support for the death penalty then was essentially identical to what it is now, to wit, two-thirds approval.
Gallup found that one demographic group, blacks, featured a narrow plurality opposing capital punishment, 49% to 44%.
Majorities -- most often substantial majorities -- favored the death penalty among the following groups: Men, women, conservatives, moderates, liberals, Republicans, Independents, Democrats, young, middle-aged, older, church attendees, chuch non-attendees, observant Catholics, non-observant Catholics, observant Protestants and non-observant Protestants.
See the Gallup Poll, http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/gallup-poll-who-supports-death-penalty.
I might add that the most recent survey data I can find, the reputable California Field Poll taken less than three months ago, shows that a whopping 63% of California blacks support capital punishment, seemingly casting doubt on Gallup's much lower figure, http://newamericamedia.org/2010/07/field-poll-7-out-10-californians-support-death-penalty.php.
When the facts of a specific case are described, support for the death penalty inevitably increases (I have never seen that phenomenom fail). As Kent suggests, facts are more important than demographics. Human beings, whoever they are, are still capable of revulsion.
UPDATE: Kent has the advantage of being more with it than I am, and
quickly offered updated polling, plus his analysis of the recent Field
Poll (the third link down):
http://www.gallup.com/poll/123638/In-U.S.-Two-Thirds-Continue-Support-Death-Penalty.aspx
http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2351.pdf
http://www.crimeandconsequences.com/crimblog/2010/07/more-on-the-cal-dp-poll.html
http://www.gallup.com/poll/28243/Racial-Disagreement-Over-Death-Penalty-Has-Varied-Historically.aspx
The most curious thing about these polls is that, according to Gallup, support among blacks has only sporadically been above 50% (mostly in the 80's and 90's), and is now at 40%. This is in sharp contrast to the Field Poll's finding of black support at 63%. Although the two polls survey different samples (Gallup a national sample, and Field a California sample), California is so huge -- and probably somewhat more liberal than the country as a whole -- that you would think death penalty support among California blacks would be equal to, if not slightly lower than, the nationwide figure. If Field is anywhere close to right, Gallup may be considerably understating black support for capital punishment.
One other noteworthy feature is that the issue is now more politically divisive. According to the 2009 Gallup poll, Democrats now support the DP by only the narrowest of margins, while independents and (especially) Republicans overwhelmingly support it.
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