Monday, Sept. 19, 2016 | 2 a.m.
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If there was any doubt that Rep. Joe Heck shouldn’t be elected to the Senate this fall, he erased it recently with his answers to three questions about Donald Trump posed by CNN’s Manu Raju.
Here’s how it went:
Raju: “You’re completely supporting him?”
Heck: “I am.”
Raju: “You trust him to have his finger on the nuclear button?”
Heck: “I do.”
Raju: “Why do you say that?”
Heck: “Why wouldn’t I?”
And with that, the few sad little remaining shreds of Heck’s worthiness as a candidate shriveled away.
Heck already had displayed horrible judgment and even worse character by trying to coattail Trump.
What Nevada leader could completely support a hate-mongering nominee whose comments on race and religion have deeply offended large groups of the state’s residents, along with anyone who embraces the most American principle that our country’s rich diversity of ethnicities and religions makes us stronger?
And who in his right mind could answer a question about Trump and nuclear weapons with a shrug of the shoulders?
Trump is such a thin-skinned hothead that he’s responded to mild criticisms by shamefully mocking a reporter with a disability, throwing another reporter out of a news conference and launching into a humiliating defense of the size of his penis.
What would he do if he were really provoked, as opposed to simply being needled? Here’s hoping we never have to find out.
Then there’s Trump’s faint grasp of international law and diplomacy, combined with a recklessness that has compelled him to uncork ideas such as systematically killing the families of terrorists.
By not giving a nuanced answer to Raju’s questions, Heck has effectively gone all-in with Trump.
Nevadans need leaders they can trust to realize our state’s immigrants have enriched our economy and our culture, and are key to our prosperity. Our leadership should be trying to continue President Barack Obama’s work toward streamlining and improving immigration policy, not aligning with someone who threatens mass deportations and perpetuates a twisted fantasy in which the U.S. builds a massive border wall and gets Mexico to pay for it.
Trump’s vilification of Muslims and other groups also stains Heck with guilt by association.
Some of our state’s better Republican leaders have seen the Trump phenomenon for what it is — a toxic, divisive, twisted moment in our nation’s history — and have stayed clear of it. It was no accident that Gov. Brian Sandoval didn’t endorse Trump or attend the Republican National Convention this year. Sandoval was smart, compassionate and responsible enough not to be associated with it.
Beyond the issue of race, Heck also is showing rotten political acumen.
In the Republican Party, there’s no shortage of deep-pocketed donors who either detest Trump or don’t think he has a prayer of winning the presidency and are looking at the Senate as a firewall for Hillary Clinton’s policies. Given that a swing of five seats could leave the Senate in Democratic control, Republican contributors are even more motivated to pump money into campaigns.
GOP Senate candidates are well aware of those donors, and many are courting them, especially in swing states.
Yet despite being locked in a race for a key seat against a widely recognized and well-funded opponent — Catherine Cortez Masto — Heck stays locked in with Trump? That makes no sense.
The good news for Nevada is that it makes Cortez Masto an even more obvious choice for the seat. The former state attorney general would be the ideal person to succeed Harry Reid, who is retiring from the Senate after a long and distinguished career.
As for Heck, his ties with Trump are something voters won’t soon forget.
Those seven words Heck said in response to Raju’s questions spoke volumes.
