Sharron Angle is offering a novel explanation for her seeming secret quid-pro-quo offer to a third-party conservative candidate that she could get him access to top GOP Senators if he dropped out and helped her win the race. Instead, as Jon Ralston reports, she now says she would help any constituent in Nevada meet with big-name Senators.
Earlier this week, Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian released a secret tape of himself meeting last week with Angle. As she had told Ashjian: “That’s really all I can offer to you (Ashjian) is whatever juice I have, you have as well…You want to see DeMint, I have juice with him…I go to Washington, DC, and want to see Jim DeMint, he’s right there for me. I want to see Tom Coburn, he’s right there for me. I want to see Mitch McConnell, he’s there.”
But that wasn’t improper at all, Angle told conservative talk radio host Heidi Harris: “Well, of course, I offered him meetings with people that are friends of mine. Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn are friends of mine, and I would offer that to any constituent in Nevada.”
Hmm, one has to wonder whether DeMint, Coburn or any other Senators who Angle had mentioned — such as GOP Leader Mitch McConnell — would be willing to make good on Angle’s promise to meet with any old constituent from Reno or Mesquite, Nevada.
The TPM Poll Average currently puts Reid ahead by 47.3%-46.6%.
Heidi Harris: No question. Now what about the allegations that some of the things you said to Scott Ashjian in the conversation included, you know, offering him meetings with this person or that person if you dropped out of the race. Some are saying that’s like Chicago style politics.
Sharron Angle: Well, of course, I offered him meetings with people that are friends of mine. Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn are friends of mine, and I would offer that to any constituent in Nevada. You know, that’s the whole point of being your Senator is to have availability and accessibility to Washington, D.C. and the laws that are being made that directly affect us. This was nothing more than a political stunt by him to expose whatever he thought he was exposing, but, of course you have that same access through your Senator, Heidi. If you want to come to Washington, D.C. and go and visit with any of these Senators, the only ones that I can offer up to you are the ones that I have good relationships with, and that’s what I offered to him too, is that I would go with him to these folks and you could talk about those things that are concerning you about the legislation that’s come out of Washington, D.C. like Obamacare, and certainly, Harry Reid has not been talking to any of us about that. He’s not been available to us and he’s not been talking about how this is affecting us right now in our lives in Nevada.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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