Marketing matters as much in politics as it does in business, and national Democrats have a major branding problem heading into 2024. The party of the left is perceived — and rightly so — by the majority of voters as soft on crime.

The trend across the country is clearly away from the once-trendy “progressive” prosecutors and leaders who value criminal rights over those of victims.

But even leftists are capable of reading tea leaves, and they clearly indicate the will of the voters. Longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod noted “there’s a deep anxiety about public safety, and Democrats or anyone running for public office needs to be able to speak to that.”

A November Gallup poll revealed an overwhelming 77% of Americans believe crime is rising. FBI numbers show a recent decrease, but levels are still significantly higher than those before the anti-police BLM ruckus of 2020.

Democrats who have a measure of common sense face a challenge from their far left flank.

These are the progressives who want to essentially send social workers to deal with bank robberies. They want to defund police departments in major cities where hundreds are murdered yearly and street-level crime is widely perceived as out of control.

This 'soft on crime' always happens when liberal democrats are in power pic.twitter.com/moCm8eF6zC

— A Man Of Memes (@RickyDoggin) December 23, 2023

And now these same “leaders” want to convince voters that they are working to keep honest Americans safe. A prime example emerged over the summer in New York.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and state Attorney General Tish James — all Democrats — tried to pull the wool over voters’ eyes.

This came after leftists suffered several political defeats in the state and others, including Hochul, survived close calls.

The trio convened to tout New York City’s Gun Prevention Task Force. Incredibly, they parroted gun control rhetoric about making citizens safer while blasting Republicans who charged that their failed liberal policies supported the current crime wave.

The initiative, which committed $485 million to the cause, focused on early intervention, housing and police relations with the community. Notably absent was any push to enforce laws already on the books and entice progressive prosecutors to do the jobs they were elected to do.

All the while, they proudly announced to their constituents that they were tackling the crime issue.

But this is all part of the new-look Democrats. Just as Joe Biden tried to move to the middle before the 2020 presidential election, the party is now attempting to convince voters that they are tough on crime. 

No one should be fooled.