Angle says people should “look into” how Reid made his money, revises history (again) on Social Security

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 | 11:53 a.m.

During a tele-town hall this morning with 2012 aspirant Mitt Romney, Sharron Angle said she believes gun registration is unconstitutional, denied she had ever said she wanted to abolish Social Security (she wants to keep the promise to seniors!) and wondered aloud (again) about Harry Reid’s wealth, ominously saying “There seem to be places he's made money..seem to be questionable and I would leave it to you to look into it. “

Leave it to you to look into it? Nice.

Dovetails nicely with her new ads and the National Republican Senatorial Committee stuff.

My “Face to Face” producer, Dana Gentry, listened in and provided some notes. Sounds like it was pretty well choreographed.

Some highlights, beyond the Mitt/Sharron riffing on Obama-Reid-Pelosi, Romney saying Angle won the debate, the callers reading their scripts about illegals and so on:

----Gun registration: She invoked Vermont, said gun owners should have “no other requirements….That’s the way it should be. The whole idea of registration is unconstitutional.”

(Angle & Co. have been pounding Reid on guns in mail pieces and blast emails, claiming he is anti-gun. Someone tell Wayne LaPierre.)

----Social Security: The pathology returned when she was asked about wanting to abolish Social Security. She said, “It’s Harry who says I want to abolish Social Security. I say we have to keep our promise to seniors, put money back in Social Security and make sure government never steals from another generation by letting them have a private account that is a benefit to them.”

Reid said she wants to abolish it? Really?

So when she said “phase out” Social Security, that didn’t mean abolish?

Need to remember that.

----Reid’s wealth: Here the McCarthyism was at work again, as Angle raised the specter of Reid making his money in some illicit way, as her ads suggest. The full quote: ”We know he was an attorney for two years. He tried to tell us in the debate that's how he makes his money. We know he doesn’t live on a fixed income. There seem to be places he's made money…seem to be questionable and I would leave it to you to look into it.”

Yes, people should go look into it because she can’t prove what she’s implying.

The “fixed income” line is Reid’s lame explanation during the debate, neglecting to mention that “fixed income” is $200,000. But Angle has no reason to say he is not living on that senatorial salary – at least no reason she can articulate.

So….go find out. Look into it. Wink, wink.

No mention, with the apparent choreography, of Angle’s supposedly erstwhile pastor who said Mormonism is a “cult.” But the fight over the Mormon vote, always a factor with a LDS senator who has hemorrhaged from that base in past races, could be pivotal if the race is super-close.