Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s husband should not have brandished a gun at Black Lives Matter protestors approaching the couple’s house in the early morning hours the day before election. But his cry of “Get off my porch” may come to symbolize for many exasperated voters’ pushback against the growing incivility in this election season.
The situation of protesters coming to officials’ homes is spreading. Politico reported a number of incidents in California in which backers of Bernie Sanders set up protests at the homes of Secretary of State Alex Padilla and California Democratic Party chairman Rusty Hicks.
Lacey apologized the day after the election eve incident at her home and said her husband David’s reaction was generated by fear. She noted that threatening behavior has occurred during the campaign citing not only death threats against her but a person who approached the stage yelling during a debate in the District Attorney’s race, requiring security personnel to scramble onto the stage.
The Los Angeles Times reported that when political experts were asked if the incident would hurt Lacey in the next day’s election the answers were split. I suspect people were sympathetic to her situation. Lacey currently holds a commanding lead with the votes counted to date, with a chance that she may not have to be involved in a runoff to retain her seat.
No one is defending pulling guns to resolve political disputes. But, support and/or sympathy for Lacey’s position might come from a sense that the in-your-face style of politics is getting out of hand. In fact, protestors were back at Lacey’s house again the day after the election and her neighbors expressed anger at the situation and support for the DA.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is running on a wave of popular support and he includes in his messaging that it is time to return to civility in political debate.
Biden, of course, is referring to the rude comments from President Trump. Certainly, Trump is a prime example of politics driving off into the jungle of boorish attitudes. But he is not alone and now the bullying tactics are coming to the doorstep of officials participating in the political process.
“Get off my porch” may just become the slogan expressing the frustration voters have with disruptive and in-your-face politics.