AT ARM’S LENGTH WITH SHARRON ANGLE…. Sharron Angle (R), the extremist Senate candidate in Nevada, has gone to great lengths to avoid media scrutiny since winning her primary campaign, at one point literally running away from a journalist asking about her public statements.
In recent weeks, Angle has been a little more willing to answer questions, but only from outlets like far-right talk radio, Fox News, and radical TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. She conceded last week that she only wants to talk to media that will let her beg for cash on the air. If an outlet doesn’t mind being used by Angle as part of a fundraising ploy, she’s willing to chat.
It was a pleasant surprise, then, to see that the Angle campaign scheduled a press conference yesterday, and invited reporters. The bigger surprise, though, came when the candidate refused to take questions.
Press-shy Nevada Republican Senate hopeful Sharron Angle walked out of a campaign stop Wednesday without answering questions from reporters, even after the event was billed by her campaign as a news conference.
Held at a Reno-area business, the event was promoted on the Angle campaign website as a “press conference” in which Angle was to publicly sign a “death tax repeal pledge.”
But after delivering a short speech, Angle turned away and left the event without allowing reporters to ask questions. Local media outlets followed Angle out of the business and to a vehicle.
Maybe Angle’s confused about what a “press conference” is.
Speaking of Angle, while the Senate hopeful keeps the media at arm’s length, she’s still palling around with Mark Williams and his notorious Tea Party Express, whose racism has been denounced by other groups and leaders within the “movement.” It was Williams and his group that effectively made Angle a competitive candidate, and as such, her campaign refuses to denounce his ugly, divisive rhetoric.
Indeed, as of this morning, Williams’ Tea Party Express is still raising money for Angle — and Angle’s still accepting the support.
Angle won’t make time for professional reporters’ questions, but she will make time for some scurrilous characters that even other conservatives want nothing to do with.
