July 25, 2010
ANGLE VS. ANGLE.... It appears that Sharron Angle, the extremist Senate candidate in Nevada, is beginning to realize that her own views are too radical to get elected. So, she apparently feels compelled to start covering them up, hoping voters don't notice.
Speaking at a right-wing gathering in Las Vegas yesterday, the Republican Senate hopeful shared some thoughts on Social Security policy, saying she wants to see the government pay back the $2.5 trillion that's been "raided and pillaged out of the Social Security fund." More importantly, Angle insisted, "I've never said I want to eliminate, I always said I want to save Social Security by paying back."
I'm including this video to help highlight just how false her claim really is. Now that she's in the general election, Angle wants voters to believe she never intended to "eliminate" Social Security. But during the primary, Angle wasn't vague about her position: "We need to phase Medicare and Social Security out in favor of something privatized.... It can't be fixed."
Does she assume that these tapes no longer exist?
It's a reminder, though, that Angle is following Rand Paul's path -- honest radicalism is an electoral loser. If an extremist wants to get elected, he/she is going to have to pretend to have mainstream beliefs. If that means lying, and hoping voters are foolish enough to fall for it, so be it.
—Steve Benen 11:00 AM
Permalink
| Trackbacks
| Comments (19)
Does she assume that these tapes no longer exist?
The past few years have demonstrated that Repubs either don't understand how video cameras, audio recording devices and text messaging works.
Once they do figure it out, they'll try to pass laws that classify any device capable of capturing information as WMD.
Posted by: The Answer Was Orange on July 25, 2010 at 11:18 AM | PERMALINK
Does she assume that these tapes no longer exist?
She assumes nothing but knows for sure the lazy will not help themselves and find out what she said last week. Google search is just to difficult to understand and takes a few minutes of effort. One can easily position themselves on a couch and have someone tell you what she said.
Posted by: flyonthewall on July 25, 2010 at 11:21 AM | PERMALINK
It worked in the Virginia governor's race.
Posted by: Davran on July 25, 2010 at 11:25 AM | PERMALINK
Every day is Monty Python day.
Rogers: I've been told Dinsdale Piranha nailed your head to the floor.
Stig: No. Never. He was a smashing bloke. He used to buy his mother flowers and that. He was like a brother to me.
Rogers: But the police have film of Dinsdale actually nailing your head to the floor.
Stig: (pause) Oh yeah, he did that.
Posted by: Speed on July 25, 2010 at 11:27 AM | PERMALINK
Angle can simply whine about negative liberals with their smart-alecky answers that disfavor the good white people of America. Angle is not really an ideologue so much as victim.
Posted by: walt on July 25, 2010 at 11:39 AM | PERMALINK
"If an extremist wants to get elected, he/she is going to have to pretend to have mainstream beliefs. If that means lying, and hoping voters are foolish enough to fall for it, so be it.
—Steve Benen 11:00 AM"
Look at the voters that put Cheney..er..Bush..er..Bush/Cheney in twice. Nuff said.
Posted by: Schtick on July 25, 2010 at 11:47 AM | PERMALINK
Surely, Reid's campaign has enough money to run these damning clips repeatedly, clips of actual candidates saying stupid unpopular things are much more effective than articles quoting candidates writing stupid things as was the case with McDonnald in Virginia. Hope I'm right, clips of her fleeing the press in order to avoid questioning seem powerful to me also. My concern is Harry himself, can he debate her effectively, on that I have doubt.
Posted by: Kathryn on July 25, 2010 at 11:54 AM | PERMALINK
What I love about this clip is the soundtrack. If it sounds familiar, that's because you may have seen this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwMXlD23owo
"... and they have a plan."
Posted by: ExCentrist on July 25, 2010 at 12:13 PM | PERMALINK
OMG! Sharron Angle is a Cylon!
Somehow, she makes more sense, now.
Posted by: biggerbox on July 25, 2010 at 12:32 PM | PERMALINK
Sharron Elaine (Ott) Angle is committing the same mistake that primary candidate Sue Lowden did. She is tripping over both her tongue and her nose.
I am amazed at the gall of not only Angle, but all of the radical extremist "pretend to be" Republicans running for political office.
Posted by: ghostcommander on July 25, 2010 at 1:23 PM | PERMALINK
Don't most of these extreme radical rightists end up towing the corporate line when elected anyway?
Posted by: Michael7843853 on July 25, 2010 at 1:26 PM | PERMALINK
Re: "Sharron is a Cylon," the name "Sharon" ought to have been a tip-off, methinks.
Posted by: ExCentrist on July 25, 2010 at 1:31 PM | PERMALINK
Again, Sharon Angle is the modern-day incarnation of Gilda Radner's activist character Emily Litella. Or am I the only one who remembers Emily's rants and raves on Weekend Update which always ended with, "Oh,Nevermind."
Posted by: MrsD on July 25, 2010 at 2:03 PM | PERMALINK
The TV spot is good, EXCEPT for the lame "Sharron Angle: The Wrong Angle for Nevada" closing.
Can't Reid's team -- and Dem's in general -- come up with anything better? How about: "Sharron Angle: LYING AGAIN!" or something with a little passion. Come on!
GOPers are professional, pathological liars, and these softball responses are easily forgotten when the next lie comes -- and it'll come as soon as the next one speaks.
TAKE OFF THE GLOVES AND FIGHT!
Posted by: lrtc on July 25, 2010 at 2:19 PM | PERMALINK
"I always said I want to save Social Security by paying back."
A lie told by an ignorant snake oil salesman to the unthinking uninformed who want to believe her. She has good reason to avoid independent and intelligent journalists. (There must be at least one out there.)
Think about it. Suppose the government did pay Social Security back. What would the Social Security System do with the money? The choices are 1. to save it somewhere (the safest investment in the world is government bonds, of course, and any commercial investment is both much riskier and open to fraud), or 2. pay it immediately to current beneficiaries, or 3. pay a bonus to the taxpayers paying the FICA tax.
Choices 2. and 3. would essentially be stimulus paid to the working people or to the already retired. What Republican would vote for that? Not to mention the fact that the system would be a lot riskier from then on. Even the dumbest conservative voters over age 45 are going to pick up on that problem once the option is presented.
So the choice is for the Social Security System to save the money until it is needed for benefits. Uh, government bonds or Wall Street? Government bonds or Wall Street? (Where's Bernie Madoff again? Prison? For how long?)
The only people who will buy that lie are the younger conservatives who don't want to think about it because it fits whey they believe. Think Rand Paul.
Of course Angle is lying. The only question is whether she is herself intelligent enough to realize it. There is a great deal of doubt about that. The Republicans have made a cottage industry of handling ignorant, uninformed and senile politicians, haven't they?
Posted by: Rick B on July 25, 2010 at 4:52 PM | PERMALINK
If an extremist wants to get elected, he/she is going to have to pretend to have mainstream beliefs. If that means lying, and hoping voters are foolish enough to fall for it, so be it.
Worked for Obama.
Posted by: Mike K on July 25, 2010 at 6:38 PM | PERMALINK
We like to make fun of "low information voters" etc. and they really do exist - but it's a lot harder to be LI in 2010 than say 1980. Any idiot now can Google Angle's stuff or from archive.org, then and now - so why don't they? Do they not even care? This is odd.
Posted by: neil b on July 25, 2010 at 7:22 PM | PERMALINK
If Reid can't win against this wingnut then everything is fucked and welcome Preznit Caribou Barbie in 2012. Then the Mayans were right.
Posted by: S. cerevisiae on July 25, 2010 at 11:23 PM | PERMALINK
She refudiated her earlier statement. But seriously, from a Democrat living in Nevada, it's amazing to me how many people here don't care what she says or does - they are voting ABR - anybody but Reid - and damn the outcome for NV or for the country. If the pro-Reid forces don't get out a big turnout in November, this could end very badly.
Posted by: Edward Gurowitz on July 27, 2010 at 2:58 PM | PERMALINK