MSNBC analyst Al Sharpton said Monday on “Morning Joe” that Democrats’ refusal to talk about “uncomfortable” topics like crime will cost them in the midterms.
“I think that the reason we’re seeing that is because again, some of us — I started to say many, but not many, some of us — have been saying to the Democrats, ‘You’ve got talk about uncomfortable things that are really concerning and that are very important to the base of voters that you want to come out and vote.’ So yes, we’ve got to talk about voting rights, we have to talk about democracy, but we also have to deal with crime, victims.”
“I had people in churches in Atlanta yesterday say to me, ‘I’m so glad that you have a balanced message here, because I’m afraid of both. And I think that a lot of Democrats in the leadership are listening to a noise factor of saying, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do that,’ rather than listening to the voters.” (RELATED: ‘Be Concerned’: Joe Scarborough Warns Dems About The One Issue That Could Derail The Midterms)
Crime has become a top issue for many voters, with a recent Harvard CAPS-Harris poll finding that 68% of voters consider crime to be a “very important” issue while another 26% consider it to be “somewhat important.”
A Monmouth University Polling Institute poll found that just 32% of respondents had a favorable view of Biden’s handling of the crime. Meanwhile 64% of Americans blame “woke politicians” for the country’s ongoing spike in crime, a Harvard-Harris poll revealed.
Republicans have pressed their advantage on the issue, framing Democrats as soft on-crime. In Philadelphia, there has been a 3% rise in overall shootings and a 7% surge in violent crime, with a total of 433 homicide victims as of Oct. 20, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
In New York City, the overall crime rate increased more than 15% in September 2022 year-over-year, while public transportation crimes are up 57% this year alone, Fox 5 reported.
Other major cities such as Denver are also on track to report record-breaking crime statistics.
