Returning to his roots as a tough-on-crime Democrat, Joe Biden announced that he would sign an incoming Senate bill to overturn the D.C. Council's radical overhaul of its criminal code. Although the president couched his promise with the fib that he supports home rule for the nation's capital, he still earned plaudits across the aisle for refusing to let the D.C. Council — which overrode the Democratic mayor's veto — reduce sentences for violent crimes amid a violent crime explosion.
But while Senate Democrats such as Joe Manchin (WV) and Bob Casey (PA) are relieved, House Democrats are utterly burned. Why? Because the party leader let them oppose Kevin McCarthy's resolution to oppose the council's crime bill, only for Biden and popular Senate Democrats to vote in favor of Republicans.
DC CRIME LAW BECOMES POLITICAL 'NIGHTMARE' FOR SENATE DEMOCRATS
Left-wingers such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Cori Bush (MO) have always been fine with letting their cities go to hell, but supposed moderates voted to let Washington eliminate life sentences and most mandatory minimums. How does Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), a supposed tough-on-crime moderate Democrat, explain to northern Virginia voters directly harmed by Washington's criminal overspill into the suburbs why she voted to reduce carjacking sentences amid a rash of carjackings?
In a crucial moment for Biden's reelection gambit, the occasionally too-online president rebuffed the party's far Left in what may prove his Sister Souljah moment. But for some reason, he didn't give House Democrats a heads up, costing them all a chance to do the same. In other words, he let much of his party walk the plank for absolutely nothing.