Democrats bar reporter from forum so CD4 candidates can ‘speak freely’

Democrats have hit on a new strategy: Try to prevent the public from learning where they stand on the issues.

The latest example of this occurred Wednesday. The Red Rock Democratic Club hosted and publicly advertised a forum for those seeking to represent Nevada’s 4th Congressional District. Ramona Giwargis, a Review-Journal political reporter, went to cover it. “This is a first,” she tweeted. “I got kicked out of a Democratic forum for #Nevada’s Congressional District 4 candidates.” The club’s president told her that candidates “can’t speak freely with the press there.”

Really? Would they like to cast their legislative votes in secret, too? If you’re worried the press will report on your policy positions, you should try a different line of work.

Not every Democrat embraces such a tactic. “Candidates should talk with the press openly and often,” said CD4 candidate Allison Stephens, who spoke at the forum. But it wasn’t even the first time this month Democrats have kept the press out. Three weeks ago, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Sisolak used private security to bar me from a press conference.

This isn’t just happening with events. Plenty of leftists try to hide their ultimate policy objectives, too. Consider the current gun debate.

On Tuesday, retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens penned a New York Times op-ed calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment. The reaction was telling. Stevens’ proposal was an “unhelpful, untimely and fanciful idea,” wrote Aaron Blake in The Washington Post. The position is not out of the Democratic mainstream, Blake acknowledges, given that four in 10 Democrats support repealing the Second Amendment. The problem is that “it will confirm plenty of pre-existing beliefs about what Democrats actually want.”

See that? The problem isn’t that the left wants to roll back your right to self-defense and take your guns. The problem is that you might find out about it, and that would hurt their ability to get elected and take your guns.

Blake’s political analysis is accurate, which is why others on the left openly advocate for a more underhanded tactic — just have a liberal Supreme Court reinterpret the Bill of Rights.

When asked about Stevens’ call to repeal the Second Amendment, Rep. Jacky Rosen, running for the Senate, refused comment. That’s concerning because, if she beats Sen. Dean Heller, she will likely get to vote on a Supreme Court nominee who could provide progressives with a fifth vote on the high court to effectively repeal the individual right to bear arms. Heller said he supports the Second Amendment.

The same sleight of hand is happening with proposed requirements that public schools allow biological males who claim to be girls to use girls’ locker rooms. Sixty-eight percent of Clark County residents oppose such a policy, according to a 2,200-person survey by the Nevada Family Alliance.

That’s a losing political issue, so legislative Democrats and socially liberal Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval tried to hide their true objective. Last session, they passed a bill that required the Department of Education to craft anti-bullying regulations to “address the rights and needs of person with diverse gender identities and expressions.”

Based on that one generic line, the Nevada Department of Education has proposed some of the most radical transgender regulations in the country. They would allow biological males who identify as female to access the girls’ locker room and to room with girls on overnight trips. They also include a compelled speech provision that mandates teachers and students use a student’s preferred pronoun.

Department officials are meeting on Friday at 11 a.m. to approve these regulations. That’s Good Friday and during spring break. That’s no accident. Liberal bureaucrats don’t care what parents think. You should show up anyway and tell them how outrageous this is.

Democrats are trying to hide their policies — and candidates. Remember that at the ballot box, and don’t let them get away with it.

Listen to Victor Joecks discuss his columns each Monday at 9 a.m. with Kevin Wall on 790 Talk Now. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.