A New York liberal Democrat got caught employing a stealth tactic during her run for Congress. Tedra Cobb wants a ban on “assault rifles,” but she won’t admit it on the campaign trail because she knows it will cost her at the polls.
Yes, you read that right. After watching Hillary Clinton lose in 2016 and Al Gore lose in 2000, seems like the new generation of liberal Democratic Party politicians are trying a new approach: keep mum about guns until they win, then they’ll restrict the Second Amendment into oblivion.
During a gathering that predated the June primary, Cobb said the following, according to the Albany Times Union:
"When I was at this thing today — it was the first table I was at — a woman said, 'How do you feel about assault rifles?' And I said they should be banned," Cobb says in a recently released video. "And I said — you know, people were getting up to go, to go get their lunch because it was a buffet — and I just said to her, 'I want you to know, Cindy, I cannot say that.'"
She later explained in the tape that she was advised to keep silent about her views on guns by—surprise—Moms Demand Action, which told her that voicing her opinion would hurt her chances at the voting booth.
Moms Demand Action denies giving the advice, and Cobb’s campaign folks gave slippery answers that didn’t address the candidate’s stance on semi-automatic rifles when they were asked about the video. Later, they will probably go on the offensive and say that the video was made without her consent, but any savvy politicians should know that everything they do and say on the trail is subject to being repeated or recorded.
The fact is, guns are a perennial hot topic, and for politicians to purposely hide their views on gun control is irresponsible at best. Cobb also avoided questions about the nation’s most commonly owned rifles in June. When she was asked whether she’d support a federal ban on AR-15s and similar rifles, she replied by talking about how bump stocks should be outlawed and the background check system should be intensified.
As one of her challengers said recently, there’s a reason Moms Demand Action threw their support behind Cobb. Too bad most of the voters won’t know it before Election Day.
