If you’re wondering whether Republicans will hide Nevada Senate hopeful Sharron Angle from the press the way they’ve sequestered Rand Paul, wonder no more.
At her debut appearance on Capitol Hill today, Angle zigged and zagged her way through private corridors and through side doors to avoid taking even perfunctory questions from waiting reporters.
This afternoon, as nearly a dozen reporters stood in wait, Angle attended the Republicans’ weekly policy luncheon—a common tradition in both parties after primary victors and other hopefuls enter the general election. When it was over, though, and Angle was ready to leave, she didn’t exactly welcome press attention. Rather she took a back door out of the dining room, through the waiting room outside the Senate chamber into a reception area, which reporters are forbidden from entering. From there she took a senators only staircase down to the first floor of the Capitol toward a side exit on the building’s north face. That’s where the pack caught up with her and peppered her with questions, which she almost entirely ignored as she weaved her way east toward the driveway, and into her car to safety.
Washington Republicans have been pretty open about the fact that they think Angle’s not ready for primetime. At least not until the pros come in to shake things up. Even today, NRSC chair John Cornyn told reporters it’s too early to say if she can beat Harry Reid. “Obviously it’s early, but we were glad to meet Sharron Angle. We told her we would be solidly behind her, we would support her efforts,” he said.
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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