b'As a policy issue, crime, like inflation and immigration, has consistently been a political vulnerability for Joe Biden and the Democrats. Republicans have seized on the national spike in murders \\u2014 almost 30% in 2020, when, um, Trump was president \\u2014\\xa0 the \\u201cdefund the police\\u201d movement, and criminal justice reform policies pursued by unpopular progressive prosecutors who have faced a backlash even from liberals, such as San Francisco\\u2019s Chesa Boudin, who was recalled, and Los Angeles\\u2019s George Gasc\\xf3n, who recently dodged a similar effort.\\n\\nFor more than a year, Biden has been on the defensive on these issues, tacking to the middle and adjusting his language. Now, suddenly, White House aides tell Playbook they believe Biden can play offense. \\n\\nToday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Biden will not just defend his record and spotlight the recent bipartisan gun safety package he signed into law, he\\u2019ll attack the GOP as soft on crime \\u2014 for its record on guns, its defense of Jan. 6 criminals, and, most interestingly, its recent response to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.'