Topline
Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman (D) said in a new interview “it was always absurd to defund the police,” while other midterm candidates in his party have assured voters they don’t support the once-popular movement amid heightened voter concerns about crime.
PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 15: Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate John Fetterman reacts to … [+]
Key Facts
Fetterman has enlisted law enforcement to counter Oz’s narrative, airing an ad featuring Montgomery County Sheriff Sean Kilkenny saying Fetterman “voted with law enforcement experts nearly 90% of the time” when he served as head of the state’s board of pardons and gave second chances “to those who deserved it.”
After violent crime surged nationally during the pandemic, polls have consistently shown the issue is a top concern among voters, and Democrats have responded by shifting away from the “Defund the Police” movement that was once a rallying cry for the left.
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes–endorsed by groups in his Senate campaign that have called to defund the police–is among Democrats who have publicly stated they disagree with the movement, telling the Wall Street Journal in January he does not “support defunding the police.”
Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan (D) has also aired ads for his Senate campaign making sure voters know he is not aligned with the “defund” movement, declaring in one ad, “I’m not that guy,” while referencing other Democrats’ support for the movement.
Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) claims his opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D), “called police thugs, then cut their funding,” he said in an ad, but in reality Warnock, a former pastor, used the term “thugs” in a sermon referencing police in Ferguson, Mo., and has sponsored legislation to increase resources for police departments, according to PolitiFact.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, campaigning for re-election against Blake Masters (R), is another candidate assuring voters he is against defunding the police, declaring in one ad spot “I stand up to the left when they want to defund the police.”
Big Number
77%. The share of voters in an October POLITICO/Morning Consult poll who said violent crime is a major problem in the U.S.
Background
As violent crime, particularly shootings, spiked in major cities across the U.S. over the past two years, Democrats have launched an organized effort to soften their rhetoric on policing reform. The strategy is a significant shift from the summer of 2020 when many Democratic lawmakers called for police resources to be cut following the police killing of George Floyd and the explosion of the Defund the Police movement. President Joe Biden has sought to flip the script on Republicans’ narrative that Democrats are “soft on crime” by highlighting the GOP’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. “Don’t tell me you support law enforcement if you won’t condemn what happened on [January] 6th,” he said during an August speech in Pennsylvania about gun control.
Tangent
Rising crime rates are a prominent talking point for New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin (R ) as he seeks to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul, and a new poll released Tuesday suggests his strategy may be working. He now trails Hochul by just four points, the survey by Quinnipiac University found, and voters rank crime as their top concern.
Further Reading
Fetterman’s clemency crusade draws soft-on-crime attacks from Oz in Pennsylvania Senate race (NBC News)
Mandela Barnes responds to GOP criticism on police by highlighting Ron Johnson’s Jan. 6 ties (ABC News)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2022/10/18/how-defund-the-police-became-toxic-on-the-left-fetterman-latest-democrat-to-distance-himself-calling-the-idea-absurd/