Pirate's Cove

Gee, what a shame that Democrats will pay for their whole defund the police/police are horrible rhetoric

Upcoming races show Democrats grappling with police reform messaging

Democrats are grappling with how to message on police reform ahead of a number of high-profile local races and the 2022 midterm elections as shootings rise across the country.

Republicans successfully tied a number of Democrats to the defund the police movement in the 2020 general election, a tactic some centrist Democrats blame for their narrowed House majority.

Now, local and state races in 2021 could preview how the issue will play in 2022. In Philadelphia, for example, the city’s progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner overcame a primary challenge in what his allies saw as a win for the police reform movement. Meanwhile in New York City, Democratic primary candidate Andrew Yang warned earlier this month that defunding the police would be the wrong approach for the city. (snip)

Critics have tied the rise in violence to police funding cuts and other reforms. Advocates of police reform, on the other hand, are quick to point to factors besides police funding, including an unprecedented pandemic, and note that a one-year spike doesn’t necessarily foretell a trend.

Still, the increase could give Republicans an opening to put Democrats on the defensive, tying them once again to progressive calls to reallocate funds away from police departments. The strategy proved to be successful last year in more than half a dozen districts where Republican candidates ousted Democratic incumbents.

In the wake of George Floyd, Democrats have been calling for defunding the police, blaming all police of the actions of a few, for cutting their funding, for getting rid of all sorts of special units, replacing cops with civilians (those civilians would have most of the same powers as police, just without the gun, making them….police), taking away qualified immunity (but the politicians don’t want QI taken away from themselves). They’ve been saying lots of bad things about police. Police have been retiring/resigning in droves. Those left are prioritizing where they patrol and respond. They often refuse to become engaged during crime, wanting to avoid getting stuck in a bad situation.

That all certainly is a big cause in the spike in crime in primarily Democratic party run cities. Hence why many cities are backtracking on their defund messaging and actions, cities like Minneapolis. It’s easy for politicians to attempt to do things, as they are protected by law enforcement. Or hire private security.

Republicans say the strategy of tying Democrats to violence and the defund the police movement likely won’t play as well in large cities, but it could become an issue in some key districts.

“I think our urban areas and our cities, they’ve been mostly captured by the Democrats and particularly by the progressives, that it’s going to take a lot to shake those voters away from that sensibility,” Naughton said.

If Democrats want to keep voting for this, hey, let them suffer the consequences. They should be required to stay in their crime ridden cities. Portland used to be a pretty safe city. Now? It’s actually worse than Chicago.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker (New Jersey) and Republican Sen. Tim Scott (South Carolina), who are both involved in the negotiations, have expressed hope recently about passing police reform through Congress.

“If you look at the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, the most loyal voting bloc African-American voters, doing something on police reform is not just a hope and wish, it’s a must,” Seawright said. “I don’t care how red or blue any district is or any state is, if you don’t turn out your base and you don’t speak to the bread and butter issues, barbershop and beauty salon issues, then you’re going to have an even deeper problem.”

Scott’s reform made sense, it didn’t demonize the police, and led to law and order. Hence, the Democrats filibustered it.