As a policy issue, crime, like inflation and immigration, has
consistently been a political vulnerability for Joe Biden and the
Democrats. Republicans have seized on the national spike in murders —
almost 30% in 2020, when, um, Trump was president —  the “defund the
police” movement, and criminal justice reform policies pursued by
unpopular progressive prosecutors who have faced a backlash even from
liberals, such as San Francisco’s Chesa Boudin, who was recalled, and
Los Angeles’s George Gascón, who recently dodged a similar effort.

For more than a year, Biden has been on the defensive on these issues,
tacking to the middle and adjusting his language. Now, suddenly, White
House aides tell Playbook they believe Biden can play offense. 

Today in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Biden will not just defend his record and
spotlight the recent bipartisan gun safety package he signed into law,
he’ll attack the GOP as soft on crime — for its record on guns, its
defense of Jan. 6 criminals, and, most interestingly, its recent
response to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. 

Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO Audio.
Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.