The failure of the Democratic Party to make major down-ballot electoral gains in the House of Representatives in the November elections is being attributed by most commentators to voter wariness with the woke/progressive end of the spectrum that seemed to be driving the Democratic message.
Thus, in a call with reporters on election day, Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted picking up anywhere from five to 15 seats from Republicans. Yet, as it turned out, while Democrats kept the majority, it was the Republicans that enjoyed a net gain and the Democrat that suffered a net loss.
What stands out most is that Republicans largely ran attack ads accusing Democrats of supporting the defunding of police and also seeking to severely restrict how cops can physically engage with suspects, dismantling various anti-crime efforts of long standing, and ending such things as cash bail and aggressive patrolling. And the recent experience in New York with this sort of thing more than validates voters’ fears of the possible consequences.
Just last week, NYC Police Commissioner Dermot Shea lamented the drastic jump in shootings across the city. He noted that despite having made “staggering numbers of gun arrests, taking guns off the streets from felons,” because of the virtual elimination of bail in most instances “when you look, three days later, four days later, those individuals are back on the street committing more gun violence.”
Gone also is the justly-vaunted NYPD Anti-Crime Unit which consisted of 600 officers tasked with preventing violent street crime. To be sure, there was controversy over their work – but even Mayor Bill de Blasio described the unit as “elite.”
Surprisingly, Shea was also sharply critical of De Blasio’s efforts to promote rehabilitation by reducing the population of the Rikers Island jail complex: “When you take basically half the population of Rikers Island and put it onto the street and then wonder what is going on. It’s dumbfounding to me.”
While there are certainly more factors involved in the spike in shootings and crimes committed – and there were problems with the old system that required change – the remedies have plainly created greater problems than they have solved. Unfortunately, many of the reforms are the product of political pandering without due regard for what is really needed.
In the broader sense, though, it is reassuring that the progressive agenda seems not to be the wave of the future that some were suggesting it was.
