A single random crime can swing a statewide election toward tough-on-crime candidates

Evidence

The ads reminded the public that her father, Edmund, and her brother, Jerry—both California governors—opposed the death penalty as well. … Brown objected to Wilson’s misrepresentations of her position on crime and criticized him for “exploiting the pain of rape victims to cover up his failed record” (Stall, 1994). Brown’s initially large lead rapidly eroded, and she was defeated in the election. Both this case and that of Michael Dukakis illustrate how a socially threatening, fortuitous event can help determine the outcomes of gubernatorial and presidential elections. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1867

Categorization

• QUESTION: Brown’s defeat is attributed to the Polly Klaas case, but evaluating how decisive the one-strike debate actually was vs. other factors would test this causal claim.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1867