Republicans have seized on the national spike in murders (almost 30% in 2020, when, um, Trump was president), the “defund the police” movement, and criminal justice reform policies pursued by unpopular progressive presecutors who have faced a backlash even from liberals, such as San Francisco’s CHESA BOUDIN, who was recalled, and Los Angeles’ GEORGE GASCÓN, who recently dodged a similar effort.
Biden has responded in three ways.(1) He has tried to talk more about “gun safety” or “gun violence.” When pollsters use those phrases to ask voters which party they trust more, Democrats suddenly have the upperhand. In the ABC poll this month, Democrats had a 5-point advantage over Republicans when asked about gun violence. (2) Biden has also sharply dismissed any notions that he supports defunding the police, the activist-driven slogan that gained sympathy among progressives two years ago but has been almost universally rejected by elected Democrats. (3) Finally, Biden has downplayed progressive criminal justice reform and tweaked the way he talks about it.
“Fund the police and promote effective prosecution of crimes affecting families today” is now the White House’s preferred framing about those two issues (in that order).
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