In his State of the Union address, Joe Biden turned GOP talking point phrases back at them. The GOP has made hay from phrases like "defund the police" and "secure our borders", in an attempt to distort Biden's positions which were more moderate than some in his party had embraced. The GOP has also invented another distortion in order to turn Jan 6 into what it was not. This bit of talk was hardly credible given the wide distribution of video of the violence that day and many guilty pleas by participating violent rioters charged with crimes. That one "legitimate political discourse" has not made it to the mainstream from the MAGA controlled "conservatives". The idea that violent riot was protected free speech has been shot down whenever a judge heard the phrase uttered in the courtroom.
At the risk of offending some in his party who had created the "defund the police" slogan in the George Floyd riots, Biden countered with "fund the police" in his State of Union address Tuesday. That is no change from Biden's position because the day after the "defund police" slogan emerged, he countered and distanced himself from those advocating this. Defund to the BLM folks meant that to punish police for abuses, but for nearly everyone else, cutting police funding was an anathema. The moderates wanted more and better policing, not less, more community-based police, more funding for training, and more support from mental health and social service professionals. This is Biden's meaning, as well. For the GOP. that was going to be in their attack ad strategy in the 2022 midterms painting all of their Democratic opponents and Biden as fellow defund police advocates. That is dishonest of them, but in spite of Biden's many attempts to differentiate his position, his position never got the attention it deserved. So, in the State of the Union address Biden rephrased the slogan to "fund the police" and he had the backup fact to show what he meant. Funding the police had increased during his first years in office. Now when some on the right who did not get the memo. expect them to claim their opponents want to "defund police" and the retort to be from the Democrats can be "fund the police". Biden knew he might get a reaction from the more radical members of his party, and he did, but he persisted.
The very strange response to US aid to Ukraine rose from the MAGA crowd: We need to secure our borders first. Silly, since we can do both at the same time and Ukraine involves military aid. The problem at the southern borders cannot be solved by stingers and javelins. Strange, because it makes the rest of us wonder, just whose side MAGA folks are the on in the Ukrainian crisis. Strange, because the bipartisan support for the Ukrainians leaves them isolated and in the dustbin of history like the 1930's American Firsters and isolationists and lovers of dictators (politely called "autocrats" in 2022). These "take care of our southern borders instead of the Ukrainians" are classic apples and oranges uttered by the head-in-the- sand isolationists and the fearful of more brown skinned immigrants trying to take advantage of the myth of "open borders" they accuse Democrats as advocating. Biden took their phrase and threw it back at the GOP talkers, using the exact phrase in his State of the Union address of "secure our borders" by his actions and by increasing funding to screen and to streamline and better fund the judicial process to make sure these immigrants were indeed ones who could claim asylum from persecution as permitted and defined by law.
What will make a difference in 2022 midterms? There might be a way to keep the House if Democrats go on the offensive against MAGA affiliated GOP candidates. Cultural issues, racism expressed now in CRT school and parental control battles, fear of brown people invading us from our borders, religious fervor against gays and trans, and anti-choice, will be the currents against which Democrats will be swimming. However, public policy issues might swing districts to the Democrats and the control of the House will depend on the outcome of races in these swing districts. All politics in 2022 is local and campaigns need to be tailored to each Congressional district. It might make a difference in contested districts if Democrats can go on the offensive and pin MAGA candidates as un-American, and not caring about democracy and the wellbeing of their own constituents. The message is, this MAGA candidate is off the deep end and has been (or will be) working against the specific interests of their constituents.
I can see the Democratic attack ads now, painting specific MAGA candidates as being anti democracy, pro Putin, against US national security interests. and voting against local infrastructure and prescription drug interests of the district. While the GOP moans and groan over inflation and what have they done or voted or will do to deal with it that Biden has not already done? (This assumes inflation has not come down during the campaign) There is no plan, but obstructing aay Democratic legislative measures regardless of the merit. Why is it that red states districts have the highest murder rates in the country if Democrats are so soft on crime? Incumbent MAGA candidates have a voting record: Their votes on how they voted on Ukraine matters such as resolutions supporting NATO in the Ukrainian conflict (63 Republicans voted against it because of implied criticism of a Hungarian dictator). That could be a poster child, an iconic vote, of being against democracy, or still in the thrall of Putin. How did they vote on specific project infrastructure funding that would have benefited their district?
