A hot, violent summer will follow Democrats to the polls

Crime will make this the summer of Democrats’ discontent.

They are already vulnerable on this issue, but a confluence of factors will likely worsen matters as the summer progresses. The political impact will be bad, but its timing — just months before the election — makes it all the more so.

Crime has surged as a serious issue for Americans. Gallup polling late last year found 63 percent of Americans describing crime as “either extremely or very serious.” That’s a huge jump...