'Defund the Police' was a bad idea that some Democrats want shake

 Just the News:

It’s becoming increasingly clear that after the economy, crime is a hot-button issue driving voter sentiment in the lead-up to the November elections. But despite voter concern, Democrats continue to be divided over the controversial “defund the police” mantra that has grabbed headlines for the past two years, and it’s beginning to hurt their prospects for the fall elections.

The mixed messaging of party leaders versus the call to defund by progressives, especially extreme comments by members of the Squad, has become a costly roadblock to retaining the House as voters lose confidence in Democrats’ ability to address rising violence across the country.

Even a cursory look at statements by Democratic leaders and radical backbenchers opposed to increased funding of police explains the party’s dilemma.

On Feb. 13, George Stephanopoulos raised the issue of Rep. Cori Bush’s statements calling for defunding the police during an interview with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “With all due respect in the world to Cori Bush,” she replied, “that is not the position of the Democratic Party.”

Pelosi then declared, “Defund the police is dead.”

Two weeks later, in his State of the Union address, President Biden called for increased funding for police: “We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to fund the police. Fund them. Fund them.”

Apparently, Squad member Bush didn’t get the message. In a tweet after the speech, she said, “With all due respect, Mr. President, you didn’t mention saving Black lives once in this speech. All our country has done is given more funding to police. The result? 2021 set a record for fatal police shootings. Defund the police. Invest in our communities.”

A month later, a gunman shot up a New York subway train, and an inconvenient 2019 letter from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jerrold Nadler and other liberal New York House members resurfaced. The letter to then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo opposed a plan to put 500 new Metropolitan Transportation Authority officers in the subways to reduce crime.

But AOC was having none of it. She and her fellow members wrote that the MTA funding for increased police presence in the subways would be better spent on “desperately needed resources” like “subway, bus, maintenance, and service improvements,” telling Cuomo, “The subway system is now safer than before.”

Last week, Rep. Abigail Spanberger called defunding the police “a terrible idea,” while a Politico story said, “As the midterm elections pick up, Democrats are calling for more police funding and attempting to co-opt traditionally Republican talking points on crime.”

“Defund the police” may no longer be the position of the Democratic Party, but when Cori Bush, AOC or any member of the Squad weighs in on any issue, the Twittersphere lights up like a cop car in hot pursuit. It seems the media can’t get enough of the Squad, and polling shows that this intraparty fight over the issue of policing and crime has not only become a major headache for Pelosi but is also taking a toll on the Democrats’ credibility.
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I remember thinking it was a dumb idea from the first time I heard it.  Apparently, the Democrat leadership was slow to catch onto what a bad idea it was and it still lingers among the "squad" and other radical members of the Democrat caucus.