Friday’s New York Times front page admitted that voters are concerned about crime. This may bode well to Republicans in Tuesday’s election. But the reporters did their best to discredit this argument in “Fear Of Crime Looms Large for Voters” to the Republicans’ Advantage.
After hearing from three people who were concerned about crime across the country, Julie Bosman and Jack Healy reported on the Republican arguments. They worked tirelessly to discredit the Republican arguments. It was as if the American people were experiencing false consciousness and imagining a crime wave.
The report suggested that crime was not really affecting most people. It was only affecting certain cities or their “friends, and neighbors”.
Polls show that the top concerns of voters are the economy and inflation. However, many Americans, especially conservative voters, are also concerned about crime and disorder. Despite mixed national crime trends, these voters have witnessed homicide spikes in Memphis, Milwaukee and Albuquerque, Fla. and heard from neighbors and friends who were victims of car thefts and muggings.
Many times, their anxiety is not rooted in experiencing serious crime but from seeing homeless encampments or finding a needle or human waste on the sidewalk or reading accounts from their local social networks about vandalism on a nearby bike path.
These concerns are generally in the favor of Republican candidates. They have bluntly blamed Democratic elected representatives for a rise in violent crime in many areas that started during the pandemic. It has not stopped. Fox News and local TV news have also been heavily focused on crime. Interviews revealed that voters were critical of liberals’ attempts to abolish cash bail, decriminalize cannabis, and reduce funding for police departments.
….most party candidates focus more on opposing progressive criminal justice policies and the “defund police” movement, which most Democratic candidate have rejected.
After defending Democrats against the “defund police” charge, reporters brought out a pathetic liberal comparison: Crime in the 1990s was actually higher. They claimed that “[c]riminology specialists pointed out that crime rates in most areas of the country were still substantially lower than they were in the early 1990s, despite recent increases.”
Also, what are you guys complaining?
Following their logic, it is now wrong to worry about crime in poor areas.
Even though most Americans are protected from the frequent shootings, robberies, and poor urban areas, many Americans feel more vulnerable to being murdered, mugged or burglarized .
They found a Wisconsin resident concerned about “reports on thefts in California cities,” which she sees on Fox News. This “drives her mad with fear, rage,” (That sounds a bit dramatic).
Kari Lake, a Republican candidate for Arizona governor, was also found guilty. Lake frequently accuses Democratic-run cities such as Phoenix and Tucson of failing support police officers and coddling criminals. However, her attacks are not about data but about inflaming voters’ unease.
The real irony is? This is because this was the paper that has been trying for nearly three years to scare readers by COVID hysteria.
