Town hall agitators

Progressives target Dean Heller

The electoral map for Senate Democrats looks dark, indeed. But a flashing beacon emanates from right here in Nevada. During the 2018 cycle, Democrats must defend 25 of the 33 Senate seats in play, including two held by independents who vote with the minority party. Of those, 10 are in states — West Virginia, Missouri, North Dakota, Montana — that Donald Trump won easily.

While politics in the social media age has become increasingly volatile and unpredictable, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Republicans could build upon their current 52-48 edge and find themselves in 2019 with a filibuster-proof majority in the upper chamber.

Nevada, however, offers Democrats a ray of sunshine. The party dominated the 2016 balloting in the Silver State, regaining control of the Legislature and flipping two congressional seats. As a result, Dean Heller is considered perhaps the most endangered Republican in the Senate.

This perceived vulnerability has generated an avalanche of ginned up progressive email blasts, social media posts and press releases attacking Sen. Heller for all manner of supposed transgressions and infractions, most involving his refusal to label Mr. Trump as the anti-Christ. In addition, the “hey, hey, ho, ho” crowd accuses Sen. Heller of ducking the voters by avoiding town-hall meetings and the like.

This is highly ironic, given that — as The Associated Press reported last week — liberal protesters are also threatening to eat their own. Many Senate Democrats have been laying low, the wire service revealed, for fear of taking heat from agitators on their port flank looking to push the party even further to the left.

At any rate, we won’t presume to tell Sen. Heller how to conduct constituent outreach. Over the past 26 years, he’s served in the Legislature, as secretary of state, in the U.S. House and now the Senate. Nevada voters have supported him in nine elections. He must be doing something right.

No doubt, Sen. Heller in the coming months will hold forums, meetings and other public events that Nevadans will be free to attend. Those seeking to protest his presence have a right to be heard and the senator should make a good-faith effort to explain his positions on the issues to those who harbor different views.

But Sen. Heller is under no obligation to endure the abusive, petulant, infantile and violent behavior that has become the militant progressive’s preferred approach to discourse in the Age of Trump. Recent town-hall meetings in many jurisdictions have presented an excuse for leftist agitators to threaten, disrupt and destroy property.

If those goading Sen. Heller are truly interested in a dialogue instead of a shouting match pre-packaged for the cameras and YouTube, they’ll no doubt have plenty of opportunities to speak their piece.