OPINION:
Public safety may end up being the most important issue in the fall elections. Swing voters are increasingly concerned about their own safety and that of their families.
A Gallup poll taken earlier this year showed that Americans’ concerns about crime and violence went up during the past year. For the first time since 2016, a majority say that they personally worry a “great deal” about crime. Add in those who worry a “fair amount” and the number climbs to 80%. That makes it one of the top concerns for U.S. voters—particularly true with women and independent voters.
According to the mid-year report, “Pandemic, Social Unrest, and Crime in U.S. Cities,” from the Council on Criminal Justice, voters have plenty of reasons to be concerned about crime. Aggravated assaults (+4%) and robberies (+19%) increased in the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021. Homicide rates in nearly two dozen cities with readily available crime numbers are still nearly 40% higher than they were before the pandemic began. Baltimore, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and New York City are all on pace to break their 2021 levels of violent crime halfway through this year.
Conservatives are in a good position to align themselves with these concerned citizens—particularly when liberals continue to cling to radical ideas like early release, no cash bail, and defunding the police. President Joe Biden can give all the speeches he wants, but he stood silent as Democrats painted Defund the Police on streets in big cities all across the country.
In Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said he wants to eliminate mandatory life sentences for people convicted of second-degree murder. His campaign is trying to squirm around on this issue, but those are his words.
U.S. Senate candidate Fetterman wants to decriminalize all drugs—including heroin and cocaine. And he agrees with the statement that Pennsylvania could release a third of its inmates without compromising public safety. That sounds like liberal hogwash.
In Wisconsin, liberal Governor Tony Evers sided with the radical protestors and jumped to a false conclusion about the case of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. The local newspaper said that Governor Evers’ comments “fueled the fire before any rioters got here. His insufficient response has put a Wisconsin city and its residents in danger.” He waited to call in the National Guard. Tragically, people died and small businesses burned to the ground. When asked about his failed response, the radical Governor said he had no regrets.
His Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes is even more radical. He actually supports eliminating cash bail in criminal cases. The evil person who is charged with committing the Waukesha Christmas Parade Massacre last year was let out on low cash bail—-even after trying to run down the mother of his child with the same red truck he used to kill six innocent people. We don’t need people like that on the streets.
Ironically, news just came out that Lt. Governor Barnes racked up ten times the amount of security costs as his predecessor. That is amazing as former Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and I were the subjects of significant threats at the start of our term when 100,000 protestors took over the state Capitol grounds. He supports those who want to defund the police and those who want to eliminate border security, while he has his own personal protection unit.
In June, voters in one of America’s most liberal cities, San Francisco, sent a clear message that they were fed up with the lack of public safety. Residents there overwhelmingly voted to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin who came into office promising alternatives to incarceration, ending the war on drugs, and holding law enforcement accountable for their actions. Instead, voters blamed him for making things worse regarding problems like vandalism, open drug use, and robberies in the city.
If voters on the “Left Coast” are fed up with crime, you can only imagine the potency of the issue with voters in swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It is even a powerful issue in states like Oregon where the Republican candidate for governor Christine Drazan said, “My first priority is addressing our growing public safety crisis,” or New Mexico where meteorologist-turned gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti is currently running ads with Sheriffs criticizing his opponent for being soft-on-crime.
In addition to traditional law and order issues, public safety includes securing the southern border. People all across the country can see the devastating impact of drugs, particularly fentanyl, flowing into their communities. They want candidates, at all levels of government, who will do something about the border drug crisis.
Voters are rightly concerned about inflation and the economy, but none of that matters if you and your family are not safe. Those who can deliver on public safety are likely to win in November.
• Scott Walker is the president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019.
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