Sanders, unlike anyone else running, voted for the 1994 Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act

[hollowdweller]

10. Situation was difft back then.

Crime rate was higher. We'd just been going thru the crack epidemic.

Republicans were painting democrats as soft on crime, buzzwords about criminals "Getting off on a Technicality". Police with their "hands tied behind their back" "Liberal Judges" letting criminals off. Right before Clinton, Bush had kicked Dukakis ass using Willie Horton ads about a criminal set free to create crime again and highlighting Dukakis being a member of the ACLU which is code word for being soft on crime.

Dems responded by getting tougher on crime. We can argue the reasons but the crime rate has drastically fallen, but more police and stricter enforcement is at least part of it.

However just like the cutting of taxes and regulations, that helped with inflation and the economy, back then situations change. You just can't keep doing the same thing over and over when your problems are different and expect no negative results.

It's the republicans who are wedded to ideology and unable to be flexible in legislation when conditions require difft actions, not democrats.