In Minnesota and Beyond, 'Defund the Police' Weighed on Democrats

[question everything]

MINNEAPOLIS—In the state where “defund the police” became a progressive rallying cry following the killing of George Floyd, the phrase is now being blamed for harming down-ballot Democrats both here and nationally after some suburban voters were repelled by the message. President-elect Joe Biden easily carried Minnesota, but the push to cut police funding contributed to Democratic losses of a U.S. House seat in western Minnesota and six state Senate races, say political strategists here. They add that critical Republican ads that followed the defunding calls also hurt Democrats.

(snip)

The outcomes in Minnesota were echoed elsewhere, too, as Republicans found success in local and congressional races by turning progressive slogans such as “defund the police” into political weapons. Some races have yet to be called, but Democrats might lose close to 10 U.S. House seats. After the election, House Majority Whip James Clyburn criticized calls to defund the police and suggested the phrase hurt Democrats in down-ballot races, specifically pointing to Rep. Joe Cunningham’s loss in South Carolina. The defund theme is currently playing in television ads airing in Georgia as part of two runoff elections that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. In one sponsored by Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue, the phrase is highlighted along with other liberal proposals as a narrator suggests they would “radically change America.”

(snip)

But down-ballot in Minnesota and beyond, a different story played out. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a progressive Democrat who has sparred with Mr. Trump, received a vote share more than 15 percentage points lower than Mr. Biden’s. She supports dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department and reallocating its resources.

(snip)

In 2016, fewer than 4 percentage points separated Mrs. Clinton and then-Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat who is now the state’s attorney general, in the district. In both that election and this year’s contest there were three names on the ballot. In 2020, a year where turnout was up, Ms. Omar received about 6,000 more votes than Mr. Ellison did four years earlier. The voting outcome in Minneapolis, a Democratic stronghold, in many ways exemplifies broader rifts within the party. The city has been a national focus of criminal-justice issues since the May 25 death of Mr. Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of police.

Since then, crime has risen sharply, exacerbating longstanding fault lines between community activists and elected officials. Memories are still fresh from summer protests that at times spun out of control and resulted in the takeover of a police precinct, fires and widespread looting. Residents are still blocking police from entering the intersection where Mr. Floyd was killed, an area covered with flowers, murals and messages spray-painted on streets. So far this year, there have been 73 murders in Minneapolis and 3,425 car thefts, compared with 48 murders and 2,873 car thefts for all of 2019. As violent crime spreads, the defund message is now viewed as a mistake by many, including those who want to see changes to policing.

(snip)

Brian Peters, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, said his organization has traditionally backed more Democrats than Republicans in the state’s legislative races. That changed in this year’s election, after Democrats pushed numerous pieces of state criminal-justice legislation. “That signaled to us that they were coming after law enforcement,” Mr. Peters said. “We mounted a very aggressive stance and it hurt the Democrats considerably.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-minnesota-and-beyond-defund-the-police-weighed-on-democrats-11605700803 (subscription)

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The reference to Clyburn

Democratic Whip James Clyburn: 'Defund the police' cost Democrats seats, hurt Black Lives Matter movement

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/08/james-clyburn-defund-police-cost-democrats-seats-hurt-black-lives-matter/6216371002/

[unblock]

1. I hate this. Once again missing the forest for the trees.

The "tree" here is whether or not the tiny specific question of whether or not the word choice on one single issue cost votes and how many.

The "forest" here is why the f*ck is it the democrats always have to be 100% perfect and flawless in every damn detail to win? Elections are messy and campaigns aren't perfect and there are many voices and many messages and there's *always* going to be one thing or another to point to that wasn't perfect.


This issue in particular is infuriating. Blank people are getting senselessly killed by government agents.

Nobody listens when black peoples complain.

So they found an organization and a slogan, "back lives matter".

La la la I can't hear you, you should have said all lives matter.

Colin kaepernick tries to protest at nfl games but he gets ignored. So he steps up and takes a knee.

La la la I can't hear you, you shouldn't protest during the national anthem.

So they try to put budget pressure on the police to try bring attention to the problem that way.

La la la I can't hear you because it sounds like you want anarchy.


I sick and tired of people complaining when people are trying to find ways to get through to people who refuse to listen.

*Black people are getting killed by government agents*

Anyone who has a quibble about the way that message gets phrased and doesn't take major steps to help black people survive is part of the problem and they can eat a big batch of shutthefucupcakes.

[Redleg]

5. My slogan is "Cops, stop shooting unarmed black people."

I think it is much better than "defund the police" and really gets at the issues raised by BLM. I think "defund" is sloppy sloganeering, and it is a problem exactly because it takes attention away from police violence against blacks. Had we as a party been smart, we would have developed a better message that could fit nicely on a t-shirt or bumper sticker. Hell even "Reform the Police" is likely less open to misunderstanding than "defund."

Of course the main problem, as you noted, is that so many people in this country don't care about other people outside their own identity groups.

[demosincebirth]

2. We seem to shoot ourselves in the foot many times and it seems that the far left are the ones that

pull the trigger in every occasion. "Defund the police," is idiotic!

[fearnobush]

3. I think the Blame on BLM and defund is abhorrent as well.

I mean seriously, does anyone other then MAGAts really believe those stupid ads anyway? The issue we had in the down ballots was partly due to a huge number of low propensity voters who broke for Biden then didn’t know who else to vote for down the line or didn’t vote down the line.

The REAL issue we had was 0.01% ground game due to covid. While the R’s knocked on doors and drove up their turnout, outside of a few states like Georga and Arizona we did not much due to the pandemic. That’s the real issue and the real reason why this occurred and WONT happen again.

[Redleg]

6. I think you might be right about the ground game.

Many of us liberals acted as good citizens and stayed away from crowds while the Trumpsters went and spread their bullshit and disease all over the place.

[abqtommy]

4. I know that I myself, and I'm sure most other thinking people, wasn't/weren't bothered at all

by BLM or "defund". I/we "get it". Once again it's the unthinking people that cause problems
for the rest of us. And of course people who are really "weighed down" by all us nasty
Democrats aren't helping at all.

[geardaddy]

7. This