A SERMON IN MESSAGING
by
Terry P Rodriguez
PCDCC Chair Legislation Committee
President Biden, in his February 7, 2023, State of the Union Address (SOTU), made clear to the nation, his administration’s position supports our nation’s police establishment in providing whatever is needed to maintain law and order in our communities. At the same time, he is also advocating the funding of social community programs that will work to reduce the causes of neighborhood crimes. The President’s State of the Union address (SOTU) strengthened our Democratic Party’s stance on this important issue, consistently, from the time he campaigned for this office to the present as the leader of our county. President Biden strongly countered GOP messaging that portrays Democrats as advocating reducing law enforcement funding.
The GOP has escalated this argument from myth into “fact” to their electorate since the “defund the police” movement gained momentum after the George Floyd incident in 2020. This became a myth harnessed by the Republican Party into messages of hysteria, hoping to create fear in Republican voters that Democrats in control of our legislatures would defund the police, thereby increasing crime in their neighborhoods.[1] This was one of many main points the GOP stressed to counter this movement highlighting the importance of electing Republicans in the 2022 election cycle.
Daniel Dale, in his CNN article, described these GOP messaging tactics as a “dishonesty-filled barrage of ‘defund the police’ attack ads”, to misrepresent Democratic representatives’ as opposing legislation for improving police law enforcement. Dale provided one such example when he commented about The National Republican Congressional Committee publishing an ad blasting Democratic Congressional candidate Wiley Nickel for voting against North Carolina’s state budget which included police funding. State Senator Nickel never came out for defunding the police but was against a provision within that state budget of eliminating a corporate tax which had the potential of reducing educational funding.[2]
President Biden boldly challenged the GOP, countering this Republican political misinformation myth with facts supporting Democratic Party policy. During a CBS interview on June 1, 2020, candidate Biden indicated he was against defunding the police, stating: “I support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness. And, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community.”[3] In his March 1, 2022 SOTU, President Biden continued to advocate his support saying, “We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police…. Fund them with resources and training.”[4] In that same month, he presented his 2022 federal spending budget calling for funding law enforcement for the “tools they need, training and foundation and partners and protectors that our communities need.”[5] His February 7, 2023, SOTU challenged both political party representatives to work together on police reform and law enforcement accountability in restoring trust with the people they are sworn to protect. Finally, President Biden proposed the Safer America Plan on July 21, 2022. This plan offers funding to provide resources for law enforcement, police accountability, address gun violence, and work with communities to address issues to prevent crime, and equal justice.[6]
Democrats must endeavor to win over electorates by creating powerful messaging promoting the successes of our legislations that benefit the people’s business. President Biden has led the way. He has overpowered misinformation by those who do not enact solutions and by using our various medias to state what Democrats have accomplished legislatively and through Executive actions. This is how we will win elections to continue our successes.
[1] Henderson, Howard & Ben Yisraei, “How We Rise, 7 Myths About ‘Defunding the Police: Debunked, Brookings, May 19, 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2021/05/19/7-myths- about-defunding-the-police-debunked/. (Accessed February 19, 2023).
[2] Dale, Daniel, “Fact Check: The GOP’s dishonesty-filled Barrage of ‘Defund the Police’ Attack Ads,” CNN Politics Facts First, October 23, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/23/politics/fact-check-defund-the-police-ads-2022-midterms/index.html. (Accessed February 18, 2023.)
[3] Bradner, Eric, Sarah Mucha, & Donald Judd, “Biden Says He Doesn’t Support Defunding Police,” CNN Politics, https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/politics/joe-biden-defund-the-police/index.html, June 8, 2020 (Accessed February 19 2023).
[4] Cillizza, Chris, “State of the Union Speech” CNN Politics, https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/02/politics/defund-the-police-biden-state-of-the-union/index.html, March 22, 2023 (Accessed February 19 2023).
[5] Nickeas, Peter, ‘The answer is not to defund.’ Here’s what’s in President Biden’s increased budget for policing, CNN, March 31, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/31/us/biden-police-budget-increase/index.html.(Accessed 2February 17, 2023)
[6] Fact Sheet: President Biden’s Safer America Plan, The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements- releases/2022/07/21/fact-sheet-president-bidens-safer-america-plan/, July 21, 2022 (Accessed February 19 2023).