By Kathryn Reed

Is Harry Reid taking a page out of Sharron Angles’ playbook?

It appeared so Tuesday at a soiree at a private home of a supporter of Reid’s. After the annual environmental summit at Sand Harbor, some people were invited to gather at this house off Lakeshore Boulevard in Incline Village.

I had an email invite. I showed up. Though my name was not on the list, I was let in and given a nametag. I mingled a bit. Then as the hostess began to speak I sat upfront on the wet grass in my skirt so I could hear and see what was going on.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at a "private" house party Aug. 17. Photo/Kathryn Reed

She said all the niceties that one would expect at a function like this.

But what was a bit different about this gathering is that it was not a fundraiser for the Senate majority leader who hails from Nevada. It was not just Democrats in the crowd. It was not just Nevadans. A whole lot of registered voters from California were there to hear what he had to say.

Then Charles Goldman, Mr. Lake Clarity, said a few words about how scary it would be for Lake Tahoe if Reid were not re-elected. Then he read a poignant poem he wrote about Tahoe.

Next up was the senator. He spoke for a bit and then took questions. It was unscripted. Questions ranged from what his opinions are about volunteer health care professionals needing malpractice insurance to how the Democrats are going to get organized and have a more coherent message like the Republicans do to what’s going to be done about the U.S. Forest Service-biomass plants-fuels reduction.

As the questions started, a guy walked over and asked if I was with the media. I answered truthfully. He said he is one of Reid’s press guy’s and that this was not a media event. I said I wouldn’t write about it.

I guess I lied. But I didn’t mean to at the time. I did stop taking pictures and notes. It was just as well. I had someplace else to be.

Even though at the time I knew the First Amendment had my back, I chose not to cause a raucous. I commented to one person at the event as I left, “He needs the media more than we need him.” It’s pretty much the case for most electeds, but even more so in an election year.

It’s been in the intervening hours that it has gnawed on me being told this was not a media event. Who do these politicians and wannabe politicians think they represent? Who is paying their salary? Who is paying their Cadillac health insurance? Who is paying their enviable retirement?

The homeowner didn’t ask me to leave. If she had, I would have been good with that. It’s her house. She has every right to say who is and is not allowed in.

Is Reid like Angle, who he faces on Nov. 2?

Angle has told Fox News, “We wanted (the media) to ask the questions we want to answer so that they report the news the way we want it reported.”

Why didn’t Reid want the media to report on this event? He didn’t say anything substantive at the summit at Sand Harbor. Were his people afraid he might actually say something newsworthy? Wow – isn’t substance and honesty what voters deserve?

His people haven’t always cloistered Reid. That’s why I was shocked to experience this. Plus, I was invited.

Reid should look at who is working in his offices. I called weeks ago to his Reno and Washington offices seeking information about the Aug. 17 environmental summit that he hosted. No word from any of his people until I was told to leave an event hosted by someone else.

When Lake Tahoe News reporter Susan Wood was working at the Tahoe Daily Tribune a few years ago she rode the Heavenly gondola with Reid and two others. Just the four of them. Now that is giving the media access. That was the time he called the last president a liar – yes, that was his four-letter word for George W. Bush.

Harry Reid – talk and listen to the voters. The media, all media, are your conduit to do that. Preaching to the converted at private house parties isn’t going to get you elected.

The same goes for all people running for election at every level. Like, love or hate the media, we are the Fourth Estate. We have rights. We will exercise them. We will demand access, answers and the truth. You can tell it or we’ll uncover it. You decide.

Kathryn Reed is publisher of Lake Tahoe News.