Angle unplugged
Secretly recording a United States Senate candidate?
That sure sounds like a down-and-dirty trick.
And while Sharron Angle says some mildly embarrassing things in her conversation with a tea party candidate in Nevada, I'm not sure it hurts her. Why? Because many voters will probably sympathize with her over the surreptitious taping.
Angle says, for example, "The Republicans have lost their standards, they've lost their principles. ... Really that's why the machine in the Republican Party is fighting against me. ... They have never really gone along with lower taxes and less government."
And why would she be full of praise for the GOP? The party establishment lined up behind her primary opponent, Sue Lowden. If anything, the leaked remarks will probably help her in the race against Harry Reid among those who are fed up with both parties.
Angle is trying to persuade candidate Scott Ashijan to drop out and support her. Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun obtained the tape of their conversation, which he has posted. Ralston writes:
"Angle expresses disdain for the national GOP, which she says she now has 'in a box' because she won the primary, which caused the DC types after her June 8 victory to still be 'moaning and groaning and weeping and gnashing teeth over Sue Lowden.' Later, she tries to persuade Ashjian to endorse her because she will have 'juice' he can tap into to get access to Sens. Jim DeMint, Tom Coburn and Mitch McConnell."
Ralston's take is that Angle will now be seen as a dealmaker because she's, uh, angling for support from Ashijan, who wants her to engineer an apology from the Tea Party Express for past attacks on him.
Angle tells her rival that "you have tapped into it, the essence of America ... and the essence of America is we are tired of politics as usual. ... Only thing that's different between you and I is I guess I was pragmatic enough to know ... that third parties can't get traction. ... So I said all right, I'll work with it. Just show me what the rules are and I'll work with it...the rules are there are Democrats and Republicans...so I moved myself up within the Republican ranks....They have no choice, I'm the only game in town. ... There was no one more shocked than they were when I won that primary."
And there's this admission of weakness: "I need your help to defeat Harry Reid. I can't do this. ..."
Sure, it was political malpractice for Angle to take the meeting. Aren't these things usually done through intermediaries, so the candidate has deniability?
But she obviously never expected to be taped. Maybe the skulduggery causes her some short-term heartburn, but it says a whole lot more about tea party tactics.
By Howard Kurtz CNN
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