Larry Sabato: Majority of Voters Don’t Care About the Democracy Argument; ‘Their Fear of Crime Is Greater than the Fear of Authoritarianism’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
Sanchez: “I do wonder how Democrats can do that if we wind up seeing the National Guard deployed in Chicago. I mean, don‘t they have to focus on that as something that is unprecedented in U.S. history?”

SABATO: “Sure they can. They can complain about it. They can point out the weaknesses in it. And the dangers of it. But as we learned in 2020, for a large portion of the American population, in fact, nearly a majority doesn‘t particularly care about the democracy argument or fear of authoritarianism. Their fear of crime, even if the statistics don‘t support their fear of crime, their fear of crime is greater than the fear of authoritarianism. You can say they‘re wrong, but I don‘t think MAGA cares. I don‘t think Republicans generally, even beyond the MAGA base care. And if Democrats are going to win the midterm election in 2026, they have to focus on what helps them and also what‘s true. And prices have certainly not come down. As Donald Trump said they would. If anything, the prices of many staples have gone up. So that‘s a winning issue. Crime in the cities are not. Most people outside central cities love to hate the central cities, except when they go in to have a good time. They hate the central cities. The evils of the big city. And they‘re on display, when you have these sorts of stories dominating the headlines day after day. I mean, I know that‘s not the message that Democrats want to hear, but it‘s the truth. And I‘ve been around a long time and watched—“