VICTOR JOECKS: Attacking police backfired on Cortez Masto, Sisolak
If you want to tie yourself in knots, forget the game Twister. Try following the positions of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Gov. Steve Sisolak on the police.
Crime has emerged as a major political issue. A recent Gallup poll found it was either extremely or very important to 71 percent of voters. That was second only to the economy. Among independents, 37 percent said crime would help determine their vote for Congress.
On one hand, this is odd. Supporting public safety shouldn’t be controversial. Gallup said this was the first midterm that it asked voters about crime.
But after the death of George Floyd two years ago, Democrat activists demanded politicians “defund the police.” More politically savvy Democrats didn’t go that far, but many smeared law enforcement. That included Cortez Masto and Sisolak.
“We need to be listening to community members, in particular Black men and women, on how to reform and address the systemic racism we see and reform our police departments,” Cortez Masto told the Nevada Sagebrush in the summer of 2020.
In August 2020, Sisolak declared racism a public health crisis. “Structural racism has resulted in race as a social determinant of health, with persistent racial disparities in criminal justice,” his proclamation said. He called a special session of the Legislature to go after the police, saying Nevadans should “not have to fear for their lives from those that are charged with protecting them.”
But there’s something people fear more than isolated incidents of police misconduct — widespread criminality. After Democrats attacked the police and defunded departments in some areas, crime exploded.
This fall, Black voters rank crime almost as high a concern as the economy. It’s a top issue for Latino and Asian voters, too. Go figure that people want safe neighborhoods.
Now, Cortez Masto and Sisolak pretend they are huge backers of the police. Cortez Masto boasted about increasing federal money for local law enforcement. Sisolak attacked his gubernatorial opponent, Sheriff Joe Lombardo, for not hiring more officers. But wouldn’t it be racist to pump money and manpower into a systemically racist system? Not when there’s an election at hand.
It’s been amusing to watch Sisolak try to make the following arguments simultaneously. He asserts that Lombardo is responsible for rising crime in Clark County. Yet Sisolak “made our communities safer” by passing gun control. And Sisolak signing a bill gutting penalties for criminals didn’t increase crime.
Not exactly a coherent message, especially from a governor who spent large parts of 2020 dumping on cops more broadly.
In addition, members of the public read story after story about criminals committing crimes after being recently arrested and then quickly released. Police can’t keep people safe when politicians such as Sisolak won’t keep arrested criminals in jail.
If that wasn’t enough to give you whiplash, Cortez Masto and Sisolak closed their campaign with another reversal. They recently held a rally with singer John Legend. He signed a letter in 2020 demanding politicians “vote yes to decrease police spending and budgets.”
Voters are rightly concerned about public safety. It’s little wonder they don’t trust Cortez Masto and Sisolak.
Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.