I’m not saying that incumbent Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot getting just 17 percent of the vote in her bid for reelection this week spurred President Biden to take this action…

President Joe Biden said Thursday he would sign a Republican-sponsored resolution blocking new District of Columbia laws that overhaul how the nation’s capital prosecutes and punishes crime.

City officials have spent nearly two decades trying to redo Washington’s criminal laws, including redefining crimes, changing criminal justice policies and reworking how sentences should be handed down after convictions. The overhaul passed the D.C. Council late last year.

…but it probably swayed him. Chicago hasn’t thrown out mayors much in the modern era. Rahm Emanuel served two terms, then grew less popular and backed out of a bid to win a third term. Richard Daley served five terms! If voter anger over sustained high crime rates can drive an incumbent’s support down to just 17 percent, few incumbents are safe.

And Biden’s position is clear, sort of: He supports D.C. statehood, home rule and the District of Columbia making its own decisions, right up until the moment the D.C. Council makes a decision that could hurt the Democratic Party’s image as a whole.