A conversation between Sharron Angle, the GOP senate nominee in Nevada, and Scott Ashjian, who is running in the race as the nominee of the Tea Party of Nevada, was secretly recorded by Ashjian last week and handed over to journalist John Ralston in order to, he says, “give people the truth.” So what happens on the tape, in which Angle tries to convince Ashjian to drop out of the race so he doesn’t siphon away votes from tea partiers, possibly handing the election to Harry Reid? For one, Angle trashes the Republican Party, which she is ostensibly representing, in an attempt to prove to Ashjian that she hasn’t sold her soul to The Man.
“The Republicans have lost their standard, they’ve lost their principle,” she tells Ashjian. “Really that’s why the machine in the Republican Party is fighting against me…. They have never really gone along with lower taxes and less government regulation.” ….
“The only thing that’s different between you and I is, I guess, I was pragmatic enough to know because of other battles that third parties can’t get traction,” Angle told Ashjian. “So I said all right, I’ll work with it. Just show me what the rules are, and I’ll work with. And the rules are there are Democrats, you got Republicans. And so what I set about [was] bringing myself up within that Republican rank.”
Angle also tried to convince Ashjian to leave the race with the promise of some of her special juice if she gets elected.
That’s fine. As long as it wasn’t incest-baby lemonade.
Angle: “I’m not sure I can win” if Ashjian’s in, nat’l GOPers “have lost their principles,” need to “leave me alone” [Ralston’s Flash/Las Vegas Sun]
Sharron Angle caught on tape with third-party candidate [Politico]
Tell us what you really think, Ms. Angle [Ben Smith/Politico]
