MAYBE IT’S UN-SPINNABLE…. As Sue Lowden’s “bring a chicken to the doctor” vision of health care delivery gained national notoriety yesterday, I couldn’t help but wonder just how much trouble the Republican Senate candidate in Nevada is in. Lowden is, after all, still introducing herself to voters, and she has a primary opponent who can step up if Lowden’s support evaporates.
Would the National Republican Senatorial Committee, desperate to beat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) in November, cut their losses on Sue Lowden now, before it gets worse? Apparently not — at least not yet.
Eric Kleefeld talked to NRSC communications director Brian Walsh, who seems to think Lowden’s bizarre understanding of health care policy is Harry Reid’s fault:
“Watching the Senate Majority Leader get down in the mud and desperately try to inject farm animals into his flailing re-election bid is frankly a bit pathetic.”
I’m not entirely sure what this means. Reid didn’t “inject farm animals” into the race; Lowden talked publicly about patients compensating medical professionals with livestock. Given a chance to walk it back, Lowden and her campaign kept repeating the line. It’s “a bit pathetic” to notice that Sue Lowden, after a year on the campaign trail, seeking an important statewide office, appears to have no idea what she’s talking about?
As a rule, Brian Walsh and the NRSC can spin just about anything. After seeing yesterday’s response, I’m beginning to think “bring a chicken to the doctor” might be un-spinnable.
In the mean time, the Lowden campaign is promoting a letter to the editor published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, ostensibly written by a family physician in a rural part of Nevada. She insists she’s traded professional medical services for “alfalfa hay, a bath tub, yard work and horse shoeing.” What the campaign (and the letter) neglects to mention is that the doctor is also a prominent Republican activist who — wouldn’t you know it — also ran against Harry Reid.
Republican efforts notwithstanding, the story is continuing to make the rounds. Jay Leno mocked Lowden during his monologue last night, and MSNBC’s “Countdown” and “The Rachel Maddow Show” had good segments on this last night.
It’s starting to look un-spinnable.
