NEVADA REPUBLICANS GET RESTLESS…. While some of the nuttier statewide candidates running this year are political novices, Nevada’s Sharron Angle (R) actually has some experience in government. Indeed, she’s following a more traditional trajectory — she served in local office, then in the state legislature, and now wants to go to Washington.
But for all of the discussion about her extremist ideas and radical proposals, it’s easy to forget that Sharron Angle’s tenure in Nevada offices has long been considered something of a joke. On the local school board, Angle fought against the color of a school’s athletic jerseys, because she thought black was demonic. In the state legislature, Angle was named — by a conservative newspaper — the worst lawmaker in Nevada (she won the “award” twice). Indeed, Angle was generally considered a nut by other Republicans in the state legislature, who often wanted nothing to do with her. In 2006, she lost a GOP congressional primary, and in 2008, she lost a state Senate GOP primary.
Manu Raju spoke to some folks in northern Nevada — Angle’s former constituents — who didn’t sound especially excited about their neighbor joining the U.S. Senate.
“I hate to copy from the ads, but Sharron Angle is too extreme,” said 81-year-old Reno resident Walt Mackenzie, a retiree and a registered Republican. “There are a lot of Republicans who just can’t put up with the ticket she’s trying to sell.”
State Sen. Bill Raggio has represented the area since 1972, and he defeated Angle just two years ago when she launched an unexpected primary campaign against him. Asked about his thoughts on his party’s U.S. Senate nominee, Raggio said, “[A]t this point, I don’t have any comment.”
Swadeep Nigam, a former treasurer of the Clark County Republican Party, added, “A lot of moderate Republicans are having second thoughts about her candidacy. They will not vote for Harry Reid, and they will probably not vote for Sharron Angle.”
Something to keep an eye on.
