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Published Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010 | 10:09 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010 | 11:06 p.m.
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That's what Cleta Mitchell, a prominent GOP lawyer in Washington who has handled many campaign issues, said in voicemails I have obtained. In a couple of voicemails she left Tuesday for the chairman of the Tea Party of Nevada, Sid James, about Scott Ashjian, the party's U.S. Senate candidate, Mitchell talked about the urgency of getting Ashjian out of the race lest he cost Sharron Angle, the GOP nominee, the contest. The voicemails appear to have been left accidentally not on James' voice mail but another house's, which is how I obtained them.
But it is Mitchell's voice and she conveyed the same sentiments to me when I talked to her late Thursday. Although Mitchell concluded Ashjian was, in her words, "nuts," and did not advise the campaign to proceed, Angle still met with him Wednesday for an hour at the home of Richard Ziser, who lost to Reid six years ago. Ashjian refused to get out of the race, despite the Angle campaign's insistence that is what they had been led to believe by James and the reason for Matthews' calls to James. Mitchell also talked to Ashjian, but that did not go well -- he says she tried to bully him out of the race and she says he demanded she somehow make his legal problems go away.
The story then escalated, as my column in Friday's Sun details. Angle's campaign confirmed the meeting and that the candidate sought Ashjian's endorsement, which is not forthcoming. Indeed, he says he is Reid's main competition and that Angle is fading. Yes, he said that.
Transcription of voicemails are below -- audio at right.
Hi, Hello my name is Cleta Mitchell. C-L-E-T-A Mitchell. My number is...I am the attorney for the Sharron Angle campaign and I understand that you have spoken to one of the Republicans in the senatorial committee deal staff and he conveyed to me that you would like to talk to me about withdrawing as a candidate, ahh, the Ashjian candidacy so or something. I am not sure what that is about but if you would call me I would be more than happy to talk to you, Thank you so much. Bye bye.
Hey, um, Dr. James this is Cleta Mitchell. I don't know what happened. You just kinda faded away, and I did not hang up on you. I appreciate your effort, umm, I'm, well, look, I can settle anything, I have been practicing law a long time and let me tell you I can settle anything. But I gotta have a meeting of the minds and you got a whack job you are dealing with and he has got a lot of ego involved here and he says he is getting 18, 19 percent of the vote, well that's great, costing Sharron the election, costing us the election. It isn't about Sharron Angle. It's about Harry Reid and for our country. So... good luck to you. You know my cell number please call me. Although I am going to go to bed in the next hour, I am not staying up all night. I am really tired. I have been in Delaware for two days and feel free to call me anytime tomorrow. Thhank you for trying. Thank you, thank you for trying. This is really important. Thank you. Bye bye.
Have you seen Senator Reid's Record on Immigration?
http://www.ontheissues.org/International......
Senator Reid cares more for Mexico,and the illegal aliens than he does about Citizens of the U.S.A, he even voted NO on making English the National Language for the U.S Government, remember Press 1 for English, Press 2 for Spanish.
No more crazy teabaggers, please.
Who is the nut job?
Mitchell talked about the urgency of getting Ashjian out of the race lest he cost Sharron Angle, the GOP nominee, the contest.
BawHaHaHa!!!
Don't give the voters a choice Sharron. Maybe you should try to talk Reid out of running if you really want to win the contest.
The Bizarre machinations of the "Crazy" Angle Campaign...
Tea, anyone?
pmontg53,
that was a REALLY AWKWARD ATTEMPT at both changing the subject and slammin' ol' Harry...
Sharron Angle is setting up a valid excuse for after the election.
She can blame why she lost on the other guy after Senator Reid wins.
Because Sharron Angle loves blaming everyone else for everything.
Sharron Angle's campaign slogan: "That's not what I said."
After she loses, her slogan will be: "It was a communist islamo nazi socialist plot by Senator Reid to put Ashjian in there to split the vote!"
It never ends when dealing with any faction of the Tea Party. They are always on this rabid chihuaua dog attack mode.
Colin wrote: "Sharron Angle is setting up a valid excuse for after the election."
True. The main character trait of all GOPers is never taking responsibility for their failures.
A few examples:
* Bush blames the CIA and Democrats for his Iraq debacle.
* Harry Whittingham was shot in the face by Dick Cheney because he didn't duck quick enough.
* John Ensign is a devout Christian who was coerced into having an adulterous nine-month affair.
And on and on.
LastThroes, You forgot Larry Craig's "I am not gay".
I think that Angle should withdraw and let Ashjian run unopposed, probably would stand a better chance.
Ashjian is being paid by Dirty Harry to stay in this race as a diversion. He is so NOT a true Tea Party person. In fact, I doubt that he can even tell you why it was formed. Nevada NEEDS Harry Reid retired. Why you idiots can't see that is beyond me. But then again, obviously none of you have a REAL job, post idiotic commentary before heading off to the casino in the hope of striking it rich! Good luck with that!
Those commentors who attack the Tea Party Movement adequately display their ignorance and it's easy to see who they are. What's scary is that these people vote! And they are not swift enough to see that Ashjian is not a Tea Party candidate. It's going to be a long, difficult battle to take our country back because of the insanity of the socialism movement which is on the march throughout our society. But their attacks are understandable because, in the absence of good ideas and, being unable to stand on their record, they have nothing left but to lie, distort, bad-mouth and slander their opponents. Insanity? Yep. Insanity is defined as doing the same things over and over expecting a different result. There is ample evidence, all over the world, that socialism destroys economies, and the liberals in our country are trying to shove it down our throats! Yes, it's INSANITY! And, as Michael Savage says, "Liberalism is a mental disease".
Sharron Angle is a Harry Reid agent.
Think about it...
.-)
Amazing: Ashjian meets with Angle, but idiots believe that he works for Reid!! He would NEVER have met to deal with her if he did!
pri1ncess..interesting point. If Ashjian is actually a much more acceptable candidate than Angle. At least he is smart and does not come off as crazy, which are two important things in a candidate!
VOTE for Scott Ashijian! He is the only true Tea Party Candidate.
"Ashjian is being paid by Dirty Harry to stay in this race as a diversion." The one thing I appreciate about validating the people that post comments is that when someone something like this I hope they have the proof to back it up. Would these people still say the things they do if they knew they could end up in court facing a lawsuit for slander?
Since the "Tea-Party" is not a recognized political party, anyone can say they're a member. Who are you to decide who is and who is not a TRUE Tea Party person?
Angle should drop out and let the true Tea Party candidate run head to head with Reid.
Sagehopper - when Tea Party folks say "take our country back" what exectly does that mean? Does it mean back to civil war, slavery, outdoor plumbing, no votes for women?
Just wondering.
Like a GREAT bumper sticker said:
I don't want to take my country back...I want to move it forward!
Half-wits like Angle would surely move us back due to her ignorance.
Lady gwigs/agogo/pjoke better not read this or his/her/its teabag brain will explode:
GOP establishment nominee Angle doesn't have a chance which means teabaggers should get behind Scott Ashjian, the true tea party candidate.
A vote for Angle is the same as a vote for Reid.
You know, all this "taking our country back" nonsense reminds me of the Nam era, where we were told "America, love it or leave it." Didn't stop loving it and didn't leave, either. Just disagreed with a lot of ultra-conservatives and still do. I used to be a registered Republican, but never voted the party ticket. Now I will never vote Republican because of their courting of the religious zealots. If you take a look at history, past and present, the cause of most of the grief that has occured was because of religious zealotry, or people using religion to be viewed as "on the right side".
Yes, I go to church and I call myself a Christian (how many people that call themselves Christian actually go to church???). I just try to remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees and that thing about loving God and your neighbor. But Jesus never said you get to pick your neighbor.
@notacon - great bumper sticker. I'd put it on my car next to my anti Angle sticker!
"The main character trait of all GOPers is never taking responsibility for their failures."
Obama administration and other Democrats claimed that the "stimulus" would keep unemployment to under 8% at this point in time.
Has Obama and the Democrats took respondibility for that failure?
I see old IrvingMoscowitz has had everyone of his comments "removed by staff". Old Irv must be having a really bad day. I wonder how pjoke is doing? Oh, and by the way Sagehopper, besides Rush Limpballs, Michael Savage is my favorite windbag (except for Sean HanNAZI, Glenn (Bubblehead) Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Michele Malkin (that ugly stain on the proud Filipino race), Ann Coulter, Dana Perino, and all the other Faux News blowhards). Great company you keep, dude.
Mr Crago, I will now prove that you are either a liar or an idiot (you can pick).
I said, "Obama administration and other Democrats claimed that the "stimulus" would keep unemployment to under 8% at this point in time."
From NPR, "Unemployment is at 9.5 percent, even though the White House predicted in January that with the stimulus bill, it would rise to only about 8 percent."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...
So which one is it?
Are you a liar or an idiot?
Didn't Crazy Angle do to the Chicken Lady exactly what Ashijian is doing to the Crazy Angle? What goes around, comes around, Crazy Bat Lady.
Give 'em hell, Harry Reid!
Good luck November 2nd vs the bat**** crazy teabagger and the None-of-the-above Ashijian dude. I have my 2nd Amendment "Option" ready, just-in-case, you know.
Now, now, calm down everyone. I may not be trusted, but I am "Justified".
Oh, yeh, believe it, baby! Justified!
There is a good article in Rolling Stone magazine this month called "Tea and Crackers" which is about the mentality of Tea Party members: quite enlightening. The author says that reasoning with tea party folks is like watching a football game from 100 years ago: one yard at a time. Ha,ha! Good luck with Angle's camp talking sense to this Ashjian character - so ironic.
Has Harry conceded yet? He looks worried as he should. LOL
doc33, you forgot the part where all the old people were riding their scooters purchased for them by the evil entity big government, MEDICARE!
hermit:
LastThroes, You forgot Larry Craig's "I am not gay".
____
We know conservative republican Larry Craig is straight because he has a wife and consistently voted against gay rights ... (you betcha).
Q: What is "Republican Tea Party Paralysis"?
A: Still waiting for a rational idea.
#1 in unemployment.
#1 in foreclosures
#1 in bankruptcys
#50 in education.
How is Harry Reid doing for Nevada so far?
Savage was a big Berkeley Lib, who hung out with Alan Ginsberg at one time. He found that conservative sold better when his holistic books stopped selling...
Looks like Angle is playing big city politics having an attorney do her dirty work...and an inept one at that...(why leave a message on a voice mail...the wrong voicemail
Good reporting...this would make a good national story but a little complex...
Ziser is loser ...his "person-hood" ballot measure wasn't even crafted correctly..thrown out
If I was Ashijian I'd charged $$$$ to leave the race...you know Angle offered him a job.
It is obvious Angle is a professional politician, yes I agree the only alternative is Scott ...GO TEABAGS!!! ha ha ha
I think it's crude politics to try to get an opponent to pull out of the race. Ashjian is doing the right thing by not allowing himself to be pushed around by Angle. And, his supporters should stick with him to show that the Tea Party can have more than one spokesperson.
Good on you, Irv; what I was really wondering was what they were objecting to, because I wanted to see how close I could come to being "removed for cause" without actually being blackballed for good. I did have a post removed a couple of days ago for "namecalling", but you had about five in one day. That must be some kind of record. Anyway, as my old Navy Chief used to drill into his troops, "Don't let the bastards grind you down".
@bobbyg: Thanks for that Delaware Online post. It's amazing that many of the professional consultants to the Republicant/Teabaggers are incompetent themselves.
This national news consensus that the Republicants are due for big gains in November just doesn't ring true for me as I continually read about incompetence on the right.
If Scott Ashijan's candidacy hurts Sharron Angle's chances in this election, I'd advise more people to help him.
Maybe it's not such a bad idea to take the country back. Back say to it's earliest days. After all there were only SIX corporations when the nation was founded. Corporations that were expected to act in the state's best interests and allowed only limited profits.
Is that what they mean by take it back?
It would be great if those so inclined would vote for Scott Ash Can!
Boy! are the tea carpetbaggers out in force today.
The GOP never complained when Crazy Sharron said she was tea party. Now the GOP is SCREAMING that she could lose because of Ashjian??? I don't know who he is, but I think this whole routine by the GOP now looks likes something from an old Keystone Cops movie. Crazy Sharron WILL lose, because SHE IS STUPID AND MENTALLY ILL! To solsinner...why don't you back up your statements, besides something other than your mouth??? PS to the "Angles" campaign, that's what you get with NO PLATFORM, ONLY ANYONE BUT REID!"
@lvelegante (mindy richards) Oct. 1, 2010 8:35 a.m.
"Ashjian is being paid by Dirty Harry to stay in this race as a diversion. He is so NOT a true Tea Party person. In fact, I doubt that he can even tell you why it was formed. Nevada NEEDS Harry Reid retired. Why you idiots can't see that is beyond me. But then again, obviously none of you have a REAL job, post idiotic commentary before heading off to the casino in the hope of striking it rich! Good luck with that!"
--Prove it! Don't make outlandish statements like that without proof. And by the way, I have a well-paid REAL job, work hard, and don't gamble. So that blows another of your idiotic assumptions. Good luck with your loser crazy right wing-nut candidate. Quit watching Faux News and maybe you'll get a grip on reality.