Harold Hutchison · Aug. 27, 2020

Barring a miracle, Kim Klacik is not going to be elected to the House of Representatives. She’s contesting a district that leans heavily Democrat, and she’s not likely to defeat Congressman Kweisi Mfume. But her viral ad has the potential — if other Republicans follow up on it — to change the political landscape.
The gauntlet has been thrown.

https://youtu.be/7S_Xl2eOeeY

Much of this is because, with her ad and her speech at the Republican convention, she has put conservatives and Republicans on a field they have often ceded to the Left. Klacik points to Baltimore’s horrific crime situation and takes on the Left’s desire to defund the police.

Baltimore has not had a Republican mayor since 1967 — that’s 53 years. No city council president has been a Republican, and Republicans haven’t held a single seat on the city council in years. The current problems in Baltimore, a deep-blue city in a reliably blue state, have persisted with Democrat leadership for decades, and for too long, too many on the Right didn’t even try to address it.

What was the result? The city got worse — the schools went bad, crime went up, and businesses left. Families that sought good schools and safe neighborhoods soon followed. The response of big-city politicians was to scapegoat those who left — when they weren’t blaming law-abiding gun owners for crime.

Klacik, though, is fighting to change the unacceptable status quo. The fact is, there have been tools that the federal government could legitimately use to take on the day-to-day violent crime, especially when the likes of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot aim to use the carnage as a reason to demand more gun control. Project Exile showed it could work. In fact, one arrest and the use of federal gun laws eventually enabled cops to break open six murder cases.

This sort of thing makes neighborhoods safer, and that’s particularly needed in cities like Chicago and Baltimore. What many on the Left don’t want Americans to know is that some of the least controversial provisions of 18 USC 922 and 18 USC 924 could make a big difference.

The GOP’s efforts should start with ads like Klacik’s viral sensation — say one with a clip of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s speech. But following it up with concrete action is the right thing to do. Those caught in the inner cities are fellow Americans, and fixing them is an obligation for our leaders. If it shifts the political landscape in the favor of grassroots Patriots, well, that’s a bonus for doing the right thing.