In my last post, I warned Republicans to think twice before they use their power in Congress to go soft on crime by, among other things, giving lighter sentences and early release to thousands of heroin and meth traffickers. As Americans rightly become more concerned about the surging crime they see around them, there will be a price to be paid if Congress gives a naive response. The bill will come due at the polls in a little less than 13 months.
The corollary is that the crime wave presents a hazard to Democrats too, and an opportunity for Republicans if they wake up in time and show the public that they will preserve the Reagan-era sobriety and steadfastness that has helped reduce crime so much.
As Ed Rogers points out in the Washington Post:
FBI Director James Comey has made two recent speeches where he warns us there is an emerging trend of police officers standing down or demonstrating reluctance to engage criminals because they are worried about sparking a situation similar to the riots in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore. Comey's comments do not fit the Obama administration's narrative on crime, and drew criticism from civil rights activists, law enforcement unions and the White House. Well, what do these groups have in common? That's easy -- they're almost all Democrats, and they may be going down a slippery slope of promoting policies that have the effect of being pro-crime and anti-gun at the same time. Calling Democrats "pro-crime" may sound a tad harsh, but if you are for inhibiting police activity, causing fewer arrests and making mass releases from prison, what else would you call it? The politics of this issue are not fully formed, but if the Democrats don't watch it, they run the risk of being the "pro-crime" party in the United States. The FBI director's observations serve as another reminder that crime is growing as an important issue in the 2016 elections.
Republicans like Jeff Sessions, David Perdue and (former Smarter Sentencing Act fan) Ted Cruz have it figured out. If the Democrats want to hold hands with drug dealers in the run-up to the 2016 elections, so be it. Such a decision is certain to be wrong for the country and perverse for their Party -- and one in which Republicans should very visibly refuse to join.
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