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Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Sharron Angle, the Energizer Bunny of Nevada politics, was out and about last week in Las Vegas, leading to the conclusion that she will keep running and running and running.
“I have a lot of options,” Angle told a Republican group while committing to nothing, according to a report from Nevada News Bureau chief Elizabeth Crum. “I am looking at these options. I can’t stop.”
Indeed, the almost-congresswoman (2006), almost-state senator (2008) and almost-U.S. senator (2010) appears to have unlimited battery life, even if she continues to fall short. Three strikes and you’re out? Nope. Just give her another at-bat in another year.
But before we start talking about the Angle boomlet against Sen. John Ensign or for Rep. Dean Heller’s seat should the congressman seek to depose the junior senator, and before we entomb this year’s Angle-Harry Reid race for eternity, let’s not forget one little item that has not yet been fully exposed: The GOP nominee’s campaign was as dysfunctional as a major effort can get, driving the National Republican Senatorial Committee to increase its alcohol budget and resulting in some of the nastiest internecine warfare in memory.
In post-election interviews, and through some internal Angle campaign e-mail I have obtained, it was clear that by midsummer, after absorbing that bruising pummeling by the Reid ads, the Angle campaign was split into two warring camps, with D.C. pros Jordan Gehrke and Jarrod Agen against the locals. And if you think the Reidhate this cycle was intense, the heat inside Team Angle was nearly as white hot.
I detailed for you last weekend just how well-oiled the Reid machine was and how prepared the senator was for the GOP onslaught. But Angle’s liabilities as a candidate — and she will have to overcome soaring negatives to run for anything in 2012 — were exacerbated by her team’s disarray.
By summer’s end, the campaign was working relatively well, with outside forces that would spend $10 million on her behalf helping. But the damage done by Team Reid in June and July could not be undone, and the lack of attention to any field operation would prove fatal. By the time the D.C. paratroopers had taken control (relatively speaking), it was too late.
Some of the stuff seems fictional: A proposal to invest in skywriting to help the campaign — “Dirty Harry” in the contrail? Or an idea for a final ad, starting the Monday before the election (!), that would feature Angle explaining how she was going to fix Social Security — save it, personalize it, privatize it?
“It was insane on a daily basis,” one insider with knowledge of the campaign said bluntly.
Another insider told me: “There was a power-struggle within the campaign: the old dogs, so to speak, and these younger guys coming from Washington. The younger guys thought the old dogs had nothing left in them and the older guys thought the younger guys were arrogant know-it-alls. (They were probably both correct).”
And consider this priceless snippet from Chuck Kozak, who was in the GOP primary against Angle but dropped out and was, for a time, her finance director, suggesting in late July a way to “kneecap” Reid’s ads:
“When Reid comes on with an ad like I saw today with an iron worker bitching about Sharron saying its (sic) not her responsiblity (sic) to create jobs — we have Sharron come on FB Twitter or whatever and say something like — ‘Well I see Harry got one of his union bosses to go on T.V. and complain about a remark I made about my efforts to create an environment where legitimate, well paying jobs could be created in Nevada. What he failed to mention is that 30 ironworkers have requested a meeting with me because they realize that the only people getting jobs in the construction industry are the union bosses — Harry’s buddies’ ... These ads cost around $500,000 apiece. If we cripple the message and turn it around immediately, even deep pockets Harry will start to feel the pain. It costs us next to nothing. This is war, like Sharron says. Remember how the Russians lost in Afganistan (sic)? A 10,000 stinger started bringing down mult-million (sic) dollar aircraft and all on board!”
You get the picture, and it should have been painted by Dali. This was dysfunction piled on dysfunction — it’s a miracle, or perhaps a testament to that Reidhate, that Angle came as close as she did.
And even though Angle’s public appearance last week indicates she has her sights set on 2012, unless she can find a way to reduce those negatives and find a campaign team that knows what it is doing, the Energizer Bunny will be rabbit stew again.
Ah yes, the skywriting was a nice touch. She actually did that in a couple of the rurals. The plane was loud, too, which made you look up to find out what was going on, distracting you from the rest of activities on the ground. A metaphor for Angle - her head in the clouds and real life taking place below.
Interesting article, Jon.
I guess Sharron Angle does have her eyes set on something. Anything that opens up. Dogcatcher General of Nevada. Anything. Because she's an opportunist that won't go away.
And whatever it is that she runs for, she'll cloak herself in whatever she thinks the people want to get money and votes. She'll say and do anything to get her foot in the door.
I say let her.
I hope the Republican/Tea Party has her as their next candidate regularly. So often that you can set your watch by her choice of running in some kind of race.
Because by doing this, she will immensely help out the opposition. And at the same time, point out how completely crazy and out of touch the Tea Baggers are with their impossible goals that strain the levels of stupidity and hypocrisy.
Angle's dysfunctional staff was not helped by polls that showed her leading. According to Mason-Dixon the teabagger was headed for victory which may have contributed to a false sense of security and general delusion.
On that subject (and to beat a demoted horse) here's what consultant Sherm Frederick wrote on Oct 31 in a column titled 'Yes, we can change it back'.
"All polls last week had Reid's heretofore little-known opponent, Sharron Angle, surging to a 4-point lead. Barring a Truman-Dewey deal, this looks like the end for another politician who lost sight of the voters he signed up to represent."
And Vinny Sue a few days earlier:
"...it looks like Angle from where I'm sitting, barring massive fraud."
With all those flawed polls telling them they would win perhaps the teabaggers made even more stupid moves such as TV commercials vilifying Latino-Chinese/Canadian-Arab terrorists.
Angle did everything but a topless, pole dance to lose the election.
She was a hired position-filler on the ballot.
Any monkey could have figured THAT out.
Why are we still TALKING about the bananas-woman?
"Why are we still TALKING about the bananas-woman?"
Because she won't go away. And she wants to run for something else. And I guess we all have to talk about something while we wait for the next legislative session and the first announced 2012 candidates.
It's a HUGE relief that Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron didn't win, but it's still appalling that she could even come close to 45%. Why, Nevada, why?
Skywriting? "Surrender Harry!" lol
I hope someone is continuing to track this woman and collect all of her ongoing crazy. The last thing Nevada needs is its own second rate Sarah Palin given a second chance being a political celebutard. And the next time around she won't have Shermie at her back. Same goes for Heck; no more above the fold front page stories about St. Joseph of the Battlefield.
In retrospect, the 2010 Senate election was a choice between a "wacky idea generator" who ran on anger, hate, and dissension, and a man who pulled together an efficient, effective team to accomplish what pretty much everyone agreed was impossible.
Congratulations, Senator!
I'm not sure so things can be distilled down to just this when things were very multifactorial. This is the fourth time I've watched Reid run and he always, ALWAYS is masterfully able to ply fear on the thesis that WE simply cannot do without HIM. As long as people tremble and cower at this thought this state will stay in the Dark Ages subservient to a little tyrant who - theoretically at least - is supposed to be serving us. It doesn't matter who the opposition is in 2016, we'll see the master psychologist using the same tactic and most likely with the same results.
You mean like the Angle-hate created by reid and his ads that were not accurate either...It was kinda both ways, don't you think?
Angle's brain had enough "internal disarray" to begin with.
Ralston s political writing this sunday is dead on about the National Republican Senatorial Committee raising its alcohol budget this year, you betcha..
:-)
Hey Clark County. What has Harry done for you lately? You will soon be getting lots more media coverage when Harry pulls some more tricks out of his bag. Hope you can sleep at nights Clark County
Someone should really take remorse for Mrs. Angle and introduce her to electro-shock therapy... It may calm her down...
By Uhave2laff (Marla Turner)
Nov. 14, 2010
2:45 a.m.
Ah yes, the skywriting was a nice touch. She actually did that in a couple of the rurals. The plane was loud, too, which made you look up to find out what was going on, distracting you from the rest of activities on the ground. A metaphor for Angle - her head in the clouds and real life taking place below.
+++++++
The Monday before the election, my son called me outside to look at the loud plane with the dump Harry Reid banner trailing behind it. At the time, I thought it was just an Angle supporter who owned a small aircraft and had some money to burn. Now I find out it was a desperate Angle campaign stunt. Their internals, contrary to the pubished polls, must have been showing that Sharron was in trouble.
Give this woman her own reality TV show! She is certainly bizarre and silly enough for one, and could even give Sarah "The Quitter" Palin a run for her money.
"Surrender Harry!" Priceless. Thanks for the well needed laugh.
Sharron Angle is a sideshow who is truly her own worst enemy in my opinion. Furthermore, Washington DC is a ruthless cesspool that will chew up and spit out a two-bit ideologue like Sharron Angle in about five minutes flat. Sad but true. Even though Ensign is as corrupt as they come (case in point), he doesn't have anything to worry about if she runs against him in 2012.
I think Angle should use that over-abundance of testosterone she has to do something productive instead of wasting it on that perpetual treadmill. Go work in Afghanistan helping those desperate war widows and their children who have no education and no civil rights. She'll learn what it's like for women in countries that are governed by "biblical" law.