Crime has a predictable history as a campaign issue.  For the past couple of elections, when crime was low and falling, it was barely mentioned.  But when crime is surging, as it was in 1968, 1972, and 1988, crime policy became a major battleground. Richard Nixon, though widely thought to be a shady character, rode it to two easy victories.

FBI Director James B. Comey had an odd plea to Washington reporters when he met them earlier this month. Please, he said, write about the surge of murders rocking the nation's cities.

"I raise it with you all because I hope it's being reported on at local levels, but in my view, it's not in the attention of the national level it deserves," he said. "I am in many ways more worried, because the numbers are not only going up, they're continuing to go up in most of those cities faster than they were going up last year. I worry very much. It's a problem that most of America can drive around."

The media dished out a few stories and moved on. But soon the issue will receive attention on the national political stage as the two likely presidential nominees prepare to address it.

"Crime is a factor that I think is going to play bigger in this election than people realize because crime is going up, drug addiction is surging -- 120 deaths a day from drug overdoses. It's just a stunning number," [said] Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican and adviser to Donald Trump.

One must wonder whether Trump's recent big advance in the polls reflects the country's increased alarm about spiking drug abuse and murder.