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Washington Post: It Doesn’t Matter That The Most Violent Cities In America Are Run By Democrats
Hotair ^
| 06/27/2020
| John Sexton
Posted on 06/27/2020 6:07:35 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I missed this when it was published Thursday. The Washington Posts Philip Bump did a fact-check of sorts on a claim made by President Trump:
You hear about certain places like Chicago and you hear about whats going on in Detroit and other other cities, all Democrat run, he said. Every one of them is Democrat run. Twenty out of 20. The 20 worst, the 20 most dangerous are Democrat run.
Its not clear how Trump is defining most dangerous in this context. So lets look at two related sets of data compiled by the FBI: most violent crime and most violent crime per capita.
Having admitted that he doesnt actually know what Trump means, Bump then produces this graph of violent crime:
As you can see, the top 20 cities with the most crime (raw numbers) includes one city run by a Republican mayor (Jacksonville, FL). That list also includes two independent mayors. The bottom graph is a list of the highest crime rates per 10,000 residents. On this list there are no Republicans but there is one independent. So if either of these are what Trump had in mind by most dangerous then Trumps statement isnt strictly true since not all of the mayors are Democrats.
And yet, it seems that Trump still has a point since the overwhelming majority of the most violent cities are run by Democrats. And thats when Bumps piece takes a strange turn [emphasis added].
Trump would no doubt shrug at that detail, decrying as fake news the revelation that his assertion was only slightly wrong. And, in fairness, it actually doesnt matter that four of the 32 cities listed above have non-Democratic mayors because it doesnt really matter that the other mayors are Democrats.
Wait, what? Why doesnt it matter?
Cities generally have more crime than suburban and rural areas. Thats been true for decades if not centuries and is true across the planet. The connection has been the focus of repeated research. In other words, if it were the case that cities were also more prone to elect members of one party over another, it might seem as though the most crime-riddled places in America were a function of leadership from that party.
Ill grant that crime is higher in cities and also that cities are more likely to vote for Democrats. But I think its a stretch from there to say it doesnt really matter who cities select to run things. In fact, that seems pretty counter-intuitive.
Usually, we elect mayors to do the job of running things and one of the most important parts of their job is public safety. Especially in cities with higher crime rates, crime reduction is often a major point of discussion during election season. For instance, Memphis, Tennessee is at the top of the per capita crime list. Guess what became an issue during the last mayoral election.
At a rally Saturday morning, former Mayor Willie Herenton criticized current Mayor Jim Strickland for the citys high crime rate.
We are going to bring to the attention of people that this mayor said that he was going to reduce crime and today when I read the headlines, we are the third highest crime rate per capita in the nation, said Herenton. Mayor Strickland understands that he made promises to the Memphis community that he did not keep.
Herentons comments came just days after Strickland criticized his record on crime.
When (Herenton) resigned as mayor, he left the city with high crime, high poverty and low educational achievement. He failed, Strickland said. Were trying to fix his failures right now.
It seems like all of the mayoral candidates in Memphis think this matters and, presumably, that it matters to city voters. Why would the fact that the winner is almost always going to be a Democrat not matter? Dont Democrats tend to have certain specific views about crime, policing, mass incarceration, etc.? Dont Republicans have a reputation for being tougher on crime, more friendly to police and prosecutors, etc.? How can this not matter?
And this brings me to another point that Bump glosses over. Trumps statement about crime comes in the midst of a national debate about defunding police. Guess which party is most amenable to this idea and which party is least amenable? Actually, it turns out neither party is quite ready to defund the police but its a close question on the Democratic side.
A large majority of Democratic voters, 82 percent, believe police departments need a complete overhaul or major reforms, compared with just 33 percent of Republicans. Among independents, 60 percent think departments need a complete overhaul or major reforms.
Voters are divided on whether police departments receive too much funding (25 percent), the right amount of funding (26 percent) or not enough funding (28 percent). Only 18 percent of Democratic voters think police departments dont receive enough funding, while just 8 percent of Republicans say the police get too much funding.
As for the Defund the Police movement, it garners support from 48 percent of Democrats, 11 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of independents.
The point is, the fact that Democrats run cities means its far more likely some of these left-wing views on policing are going to be adopted in these places. Will it matter? Of course it will! You can argue that it might improve things (which is clearly what Democrats hope) but I dont think you can argue it doesnt matter.
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Delaware; US: District of Columbia; US: Illinois; US: Michigan; US: Minnesota; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: anarchotyranny; chicago; crime; delaware; democrats; detroit; districtofcolumbia; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; illinois; jimstrickland; lyinglimolib; memphis; michigan; minneapolis; minnesota; philbump; philipbump; tennessee; violence; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost; willieherenton
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To: SeekAndFind
I live in Phoenix, and the mayor is technically non-partisan. In reality, she’s a Democrat.
2
posted on
06/27/2020 6:10:05 PM PDT
by
Dr. Sivana
(There is no salvation in politics)
To: SeekAndFind
It’s never Democrats fault.
3
posted on
06/27/2020 6:10:26 PM PDT
by
dfwgator
(Endut! Hoch Hech!)
To: SeekAndFind
I guess that’s why so many are fleeing these leftist destroyed cities.
Yeah....it doesn’t matter that these danger zones are ran by Dems.
Right.
4
posted on
06/27/2020 6:16:31 PM PDT
by
Jane Long
(Praise God, from whom ALL blessings flow.)
To: SeekAndFind
Dead or Alive.. They gonna steal your vote either way.
5
posted on
06/27/2020 6:20:26 PM PDT
by
NormsRevenge
(Semper Fi - Monthly Donors Rock!!!)
To: Dr. Sivana
I live in Phoenix, and the mayor is technically non-partisan.
I live here, too. She's certainly not a good leader. I guess that makes her a good Democrat.
6
posted on
06/27/2020 6:20:47 PM PDT
by
righttackle44
(Take scalps. Leave the bodies as a warning.)
To: SeekAndFind
Umm, you know what ALL of the violent cities have in common that the president cant say? I think the left might say those cities are diverse.
7
posted on
06/27/2020 6:22:26 PM PDT
by
rey
To: SeekAndFind
Of course it’s not the fault of the Democrats - but what one hears from the donkeys running these shows is even more amusing: Chicago’s mayor (with NO Republicans on her City Council) and Illinois’s governor (with a Democrat majority in both the state House and Senate) spend all their time blaming Trump and the GOP for the dismal state of the entities they’re in charge of.
8
posted on
06/27/2020 6:25:04 PM PDT
by
Stosh
To: SeekAndFind
For the Bezos Compost it is Never about truth. Never let the truth get in the way of the agenda.
9
posted on
06/27/2020 6:32:19 PM PDT
by
Fungi
To: SeekAndFind
10
posted on
06/27/2020 6:34:55 PM PDT
by
sauropod
(Quarantine is when you restrict sick people, tyranny is when you restrict healthy people.)
To: SeekAndFind
I’d like to see graphs of graduating senior’s majors from (a) the blue schools and (b) the red schools. I’d like to see data that I can believe.
11
posted on
06/27/2020 6:35:30 PM PDT
by
Rembrandt
(-a sure sign a Dem is lying - his lips are moving.)
To: Dr. Sivana
Any time you see the words non partisan its pretty much a cinch that the non partisan office holder is a Demoncrat.
12
posted on
06/27/2020 6:36:12 PM PDT
by
allblues
(God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat but Satan is definitely a Democrat)
To: Dr. Sivana; SeekAndFind
I live in Phoenix, and the mayor is technically non-partisan. In reality, shes a Democrat. Independent/non-partisan means that they dont want to admit that they are socialist because they lose votes.
Bernie Sanders is technically an independent and admits to being a socialist. He votes with the Democrat caucus 99% of the time.
For Bernie I suppose when he first got into politics his Independent status carried more weight because the Democrat Party was far more conservative and being a communist sympathizer was far more dangerous to your career. But today he is out there and proud of his socialism. Why bother anymore? Admit that the Democrats are every bit the socialist you are Bernie.
13
posted on
06/27/2020 6:36:12 PM PDT
by
Pontiac
(The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit)
To: All
Looks pretty obvious to me.
Socialist Democrats are a CANCER that needs to be excised.
Hurry, November!
14
posted on
06/27/2020 6:43:43 PM PDT
by
Diana in Wisconsin
(I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
To: SeekAndFind
15
posted on
06/27/2020 6:50:49 PM PDT
by
Dogbert41
(Jerusalem is the city of the Great King!!!)
To: Stosh
For the most part big cities are more reliant on government hand outs than on self reliance.
Which party is going to be OK with that? Thank LBJ and even FDR. Heck Wilson.
Hand outs for votes. (i.e. power)
Some of us are not that lazy or stupid.
16
posted on
06/27/2020 6:52:55 PM PDT
by
lizma2
To: rey
They’re leftist, balkanized shitholes, to coin a phrase.
17
posted on
06/27/2020 6:55:39 PM PDT
by
Carriage Hill
(A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
To: SeekAndFind
Typical response: “fact check, split hairs, ignore that only one Republican Mayor led city is in the whole sampling.
That is why the Post is widely mistrusted. If not for the suckers on the government tit all living in North East Virginia, the circulation numbers would be sorry.
18
posted on
06/27/2020 7:05:42 PM PDT
by
BatGuano
(Ya don't think I'd go into combat with loose change in my pocket, do Ya? Nunc Bibendum)
To: SeekAndFind
19
posted on
06/27/2020 7:08:32 PM PDT
by
Mrs. Don-o
(The past isn't dead. It isn't even past.)
To: Jane Long
Look at the graph. Most cities are ‘rat cities, even those in red states. There are almost no red cities.
20
posted on
06/27/2020 7:13:25 PM PDT
by
Sans-Culotte
(With every passing day, I am a little bit gladder that Romney lost in 2012.)
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