The riots in California (and elsewhere) against Federal law enforcement are a winning issue... for Republicans.

Democrats are desperately searching for a winning issue, but supporting riots on this subject is simply not going to be the answer.

At the end of the day, people do not like chaos, violence, or destruction. Even when they might be supportive of an idea, people draw the line at peaceful protests and will condemn full blown riots.

Rioters will tell you that this is how you make change. However, those on the "right side of history" will tell you that past examples of social unrest that might have preceded change, were already backing popular issues that were being held back by a powerful minority. There is no majority opinion in favor of unfettered illegal immigration, there is no majority opinion in favor of violently attacking Federal law enforcement, and there is no majority opinion in favor of rioting in response.

Donald Trump won an election as much on immigration as he did on anything else (other than the trans-gender issue). The economy, national security, inflation, wars, etc... played a part, but Trump campaigned on immigration way more than any of those other issues. Polling suggests that well over 80% of Americans want illegal immigrants who have committed crimes to be deported. A small majority want all illegal immigrants deported. There is no overwhelming movement in this country to push for an open border and policies to provide federal assistance to those who cross, and there is certainly no stomach for those on the left who want to defend even the worst of the criminals.

For some reason Gavin Newsom wants to pick this fight with Trump. Trump is willing to play along and has been polite but critical of Newsom, calling him a "nice guy" who is simply "incompetent". Trump has a way of labeling people he runs across in a manner that hits to the core. While many want to pretend that Newsom is this slick Californian with all these great liberal ideas, I think calling him a nice guy who is incompetent is something that will stick with a ton of people. He has obviously been over his head in California, running it nearly into the ground and very few who are not "far left" will see him as a viable solution to run the country. These riots and his reaction will not help that.

At issue for Democrats is that they are simply used to having a great deal of cover when they need it from the media. But with social media exploiting those who tell lies about these things, and the reduction of viewership and trust in the main stream media, there simply is not the same amount of traction to be gained by going on a Sunday news show and providing propaganda. There are bits where Democrats (like Cory Booker) are talking about peaceful protests while the split screen is showing cars exploding. This is the Baghdad Bod situation all over again. Anyone (and probably most everyone) is on Social Media and can see for themselves that these are riots, not protests. Pretending otherwise and circling the wagons makes the entire Party look bad.

On the flip side, Republican can continue with the nobody is above the law rhetoric, showing the actual footage, condemning the violence, and demanding that local law enforcement protect federal law enforcement from rioters. This is common sense and common decency. The majority of Americans do not share the same disdain for ICE as the far left pro-immigration minions do. Politicians like Newsom and Booker are erroring if they believe this is a winning strategy.