Democrats are attempting to dissociate themselves from the phrase “defund the police” over a year after it became popular on the left-wing. They’re doing this in the hopes of inoculating campaigns against claims they just want to cut funding from police departments.
The Movement Damaged Democrats’ Hopes in the Midterms
Whereas the party’s internal discussion over the campaign’s political importance is still ongoing, many contenders already decided the subject is too socially volatile to risk it.
“We have to keep our children safe in Bucks County,” says liberal Mark Lomax (a contender for sheriff’s department in suburban Philly) in a new TV ad first seen by Politico. “It all starts with police financing.”
“We understand to solve crimes, we must finance the police,” Lomax adds in another 30-second ad, alongside liberal county prosecutor candidate Antonetta Stancu.
Democrats claim they don’t support Defunding the Police.
Here’s 7 minutes of them saying, DEFUND THE POLICE! pic.twitter.com/Y7lwPAnEiw
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 7, 2021
The stated promise to support the police is based on lessons learned from the 2020 election when many liberals said the “defund the cops” campaign hurt their chances of winning.
In a recent election analysis, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee determined the issue “packed a punch.” However, the Democrats’ rhetoric is partly a reaction to poll data.
According to an Ipsos/USA Today poll of 1,165 people conducted in March, only 18 percent of people support the “defund the police” campaign. Although there is no solid evidence of a revolt in 2020, the surge in criminal activity made several campaigns wary of being labeled as soft on crime this fall.
Celinda Lake, a leading Democrat pollster, remarked, “it’s one of the few attacks that requires a response. Most of the other charges (that socialism will cost jobs, those vaccination requirements will cost lives, that taxes will cost lives) these attacks have no weight. Therefore, the Republicans are reduced to one offense.”
They Want the United States to Forget all About It
“I think a lot of liberals are just trying to push it to the wayside so the entire campaign isn’t about defending the cops,” Lake also added.
Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman says he rejects the “defund the police” movement because police are necessary, and most officers are doing a good job. https://t.co/DizE2FO9PG
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) October 10, 2021
The topic has proved to be a losing proposition on a policy level; few cities or suburbs defunded police forces significantly in the year since the officer-involved shooting of George Floyd launched the campaign.
However, in terms of American politics, the subject that has become known simply as “defund the police” is already a mainstay of Republican assaults. In Virginia (in which well almost a half-dozen parliamentary applicants have been prioritized by “stop funding” ads), liberal Michelle Maldonado declined an approval from NARAL Virginia this year.
She declined because termination of the pregnancy rights group, like many other left-leaning institutions, put out a statement in very strong support of defunding the police in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis.
