Major police endorsement for Kamala Harris
In 2020, one of the problems that led to Republicans performing better than expected was a group of activists protesting the George Floyd murder and police violence with the slogan “Defund the Police.” A number of them claimed that this didn’t explicitly mean what they said it did – but voters don’t want to be lectured on policy and they rarely want to do their own research on looking things up.
For the record, Joe Biden and even Bernie Sanders loudly denounced this slogan, and pretty much every Democratic candidate running refused to come out in favor of it, but the branding had been done. The GOP effectively used it to paint a contrast, while claiming to be the party of “law and order.” Enough voters on the fence saw the widely covered protests on TV and fell for it.
Now, the shoe is on the other foot. Any delusions that the GOP is the party of law and order were quashed after the Jan 6 insurrection, nor are they particularly interested in funding Capitol Police. Although Donald Trump likes to brag about his endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police, he’s running against a former prosecutor and a number of national security advisors have endorsed his opponent.
Now, Kamala Harris has gotten another significant endorsement: Police Leaders for Community Safety, led by a former sheriff of Dane County, Wisconsin – a pivotal state that Harris needs to win, and citing how the Biden-Harris administration oversaw a record drop in violent crime between 2022 and 2024, as well as their strong regard for the rule of law. Endorsements have always been significant in the world of politics, but this is a nonpartisan organization making its first endorsement – suggesting a very clear picture of what’s at stake. Let’s do everything we can to get Vice President Harris elected on Nov 5.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making