On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks argued that Democrats have failed “to show they have some credibility” on crime or to demonstrate that “Democratic mayors can keep the streets safe.”
Brooks said, “I do think there are some weaknesses that have been exposed in the Democratic political strategy. The first is, it’s very hard to win elections if you’re not trusted on the number one issue, which is the economy. Republicans have about a 10-point advantage. Second, it’s very hard to win if you’re not trusted on what I think has become the number two issue, which is crime. And crime has been — violent crime has been up a lot two years ago. It’s sort of flattened off now. But robbery, carjacking, that stuff is up.”
He continued, “And it’s not political. I’ve been having conversations about crime with people, friends all around the country who think crime is more a reality. Bill Clinton worked really hard to give Democrats credibility on crime in the 1990s with the crime bill. Democrats have walked away from that crime bill-type approach, in my view, for a lot of good reasons. There was way too much incarceration and things like that. But they have not found another way to replace it, to show they have some credibility, to show that Democratic mayors can keep the streets safe. And Eric Adams, all the mayors are struggling with this right now. And so, that has got to be a priority one.”
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