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There& #39;s a lot of commentary in the media and here on Twitter about how violent protests and looting in Democratically controlled cities is bad for Joe Biden. But I haven& #39;t seen anyone say stories like these are bad for Trump/Pence.
This same story from @washingtonpost notes that police in Weatherford Texas were very late and ineffective at stopping violence from heavily armed right wing groups. But I don& #39;t think that anyone is saying officials in Weatherford (which is hardly a "blue city") are soft on crime
I& #39;m posting these stories not because I think this violence should be laid at the feet of the president or because I think local officials deserve blame. But instead because I& #39;m interested why that isn& #39;t the immediate reaction to stories of right-wing violence.
I& #39;ve seen countless takes about how the rioting in Kenosha will probably hurt Joe Biden in the election.
But I& #39;ve seen no takes that Rittenhouse shooting in Kenosha will hurt Trump.
(Don& #39;t get me wrong--I& #39;ve seen people *blame* Trump for Rittenhouse. But that& #39;s different.)
But I& #39;ve seen no takes that Rittenhouse shooting in Kenosha will hurt Trump.
(Don& #39;t get me wrong--I& #39;ve seen people *blame* Trump for Rittenhouse. But that& #39;s different.)
I don& #39;t have the political expertise to know whether these takes are just descriptively accurate--that Democrats can take political hits on crime, but Republicans can& #39;t or won& #39;t.
But I do wonder whether those descriptive takes might be self-fulfilling prophecies.
But I do wonder whether those descriptive takes might be self-fulfilling prophecies.
When voters constantly see headlines that looting and violent protests *will* be used to attack Biden, or when they see multiple pundits talk about how Trump& #39;s law and order rhetoric is likely to be effective, is it possible that it primes people to view crime politics that way?
I frame that as a question, because I do not know the answer.
But I do know that I& #39;ve spent the past several days hearing from people who think that public violence could hurt Biden.
And I& #39;m starting to wonder whether this isn& #39;t an example of stereotypes shaping views.
But I do know that I& #39;ve spent the past several days hearing from people who think that public violence could hurt Biden.
And I& #39;m starting to wonder whether this isn& #39;t an example of stereotypes shaping views.
Are people questioning whether Biden& #39;s comments are strong enough--even though he& #39;s repeatedly condemned violence--because democrats are held to a different standard when it comes to crime?
When armed vigilantes pour in from the suburbs to assault and shoot people, why do we assume that this doesn& #39;t count as a failure of Trump& #39;s promises of "law and order"? Is it because we do not view members of militia as criminals, but young people who set fire to stores are?
I don& #39;t have any good answers here. Just questions. But as I& #39;m asking these questions, I do worry that the answers I hear from others and the assumptions that I myself have sometimes made are based on political stereotypes and double standards.
BTW -- here& #39;s the WaPo article. It& #39;s an important glimpse into political violence outside of the big urban cities that have captured most of the media coverage when it comes to protests and violence. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/protests-violence/2020/08/27/3f232e66-e578-11ea-970a-64c73a1c2392_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_protestviolence-630am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans">https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/...
