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Sharron Angle gears up to challenge Harry Reid
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Apr. 10, 2012 | 9:39 a.m.
Conservative Sharron Angle isn't ceding anything to leading Republicans who want to challenge incumbent Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
She says she has nearly as much money as Danny Tarkanian, is more clearly conservative than Sue Lowden and has more experience than both of them combined. Tarkanian has run for two offices and lost twice. Lowden served one term in the state Senate.
"I'm not here to preach to the choir, I'm here to organize an army," said Angle, a former assemblywoman from Reno.
Angle is in Las Vegas where she had a meeting with the Review-Journal editorial board Tuesday and has a campaign event scheduled today.
She said the economy is her number one issue and favors reducing taxes and regulations on business to stimulate economic activity and hiring.
"We have got to stop what we are doing now. The stimulus has failed. The bailouts have failed," she said.
In a recent survey by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Angle was the choice of 9 percent of Republican respondents in the Senate primary. Lowden and Tarkanian led with 23 and 21 percent, respectively.
Angle said she's raised about $215,000 so far, just $35,000 less than polling leader Tarkanian, although on Tuesday the Federal Election Commission hadn't yet posted Angle's latest finance report.
Angle served four terms in the Assembly, from 1998 to 2006. In the 2006 Republican primary for Congress, she fell short of Rep. Dean Heller by just 421 votes. In Washoe County, the most populous region of Nevada outside Clark County, Angle won 2,048 more votes than Heller.
Angle says her conservative ideology will appeal to voters distrustful of government.
During the interview at the Review-Journal, Angle said she favored deep cuts to the Department of Education, phasing out Medicare and criticized extensions of unemployment payments.
On education, Angle says it is wasteful to spend money on department-level bureaucracy. She favors money going directly to schools.
"The best education is local education, and locally controlled education," she said.
As for Medicare, she said the entitlement program popular with seniors will eventually grow too costly to maintain.
Angle wants to start health savings programs and other incentives for younger people to start financially preparing now for their senior years.
"We need to phase it out," she said. "We need to get (younger people) options because we know Medicare is one of those systems that is going broke."
On unemployment benefits, which for millions of Americans will run out by the end of the year, Angle said, "We have to deal with the problems we have been handed."
But she was also wary of the notion of continuing to extend benefits for the jobless.
"I don't think the solution to unemployment is to get more unemployment benefits," she said. "At some point people lose their desire to even work."
Lowden consultant Robert Uithoven said his candidate's experience in business is "every bit as important as political experience.
"Sue Lowden will be proud to talk about her legislative record and her record in business," he said.
Tarkanian consultant Jamie Fisfis said his candidate's lack of government experience isn't a negative.
"I know that some people are running on government experience but Danny Tarkanian is running as an outsider," he said.
Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.
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I am for a conservative approach to government. What we need is a person willing to listen to the people and represent what we want, not what congress thinks we want and need. I look forward to voting out Harry Reid, and others like him! He may have done some good here in Nevada; however, he is out of touch with the people and he represents his parties self interest, not the peoples. Out with Harry Reid!! I look forward to hearing more about Sharron Angle's ideas on governing.
Jaded,
Nice but we should also add no former congressman lobbying for any company for a period of ten years.
Or advocacy group skirting current lobbyist laws.
Sadly these are so corrupted people and they will not be in prison, but out in the streets enjoying the fruits of their crimes.
A victory to get the likes of Reid and others out but it truly would be a better victory if they had to rot in jail.
At least you have an agenda instead of voting for more of the same, Change My A**!
Dear Jaded: If it were only that simple. The problem is that the same moneyed interests would fund the new guys and they would then be beholden to those who put them in office and would screw us just as much as the current batch in Congress.
Dear Dee Tokeville: Good luck ever having a well informed electorate in Nevada. A state that does not value education, but rather making sure the casino owners are happy. A state that ranks low in everything a state wants to rank high in and high in everything a state wants to rank low in. It is very sad. Lastly, again addressing Dee Tokeville: What makes you think that well informed people will be able to put people in office that won't still be paid for by lobbyists whose interests they will end up representing over us anyway?
Jaded, that's a brillinat solution...absolutely brilliant!
After all, everyone knows, if it's new it must be good, and if it's new, it must be honest. Your political science professors, as well as your logic professor, must be very proud.
by the way, what the "Framers of our Constitution envisioned" was an electorate that was well-informed, rather than a bunch of screaming nitwits who make ridiculous generalizations, and offer even more ridiculous solutions.
The entire Congress of the United States is corrupt. And I mean both Houses, and I mean both major parties.
As a group they are absolutely the most corrupt bunch to ever disgrace our Nation.
In November of 2010 the entire House of Representatives will stand for re-election; all 435 of them. One third of the Senate, a total of 33 of them, will also stand for re-election. Vote every incumbent out.
And I mean every one of them. No matter their Party affiliation. Let's start all over in the House of Representatives with 435 people who have absolutely no experience in corrupting that body, with no political favors owed to anyone but their own constituents. Let's make them understand that they work for us.
They are answerable to us and they simply have to run that body with some common sense.
Two years later, in 2012, vote the next third of the incumbents in the Senate out.
We can do the same thing in 2014 and, by that time we will have put all new people in that body as well.
We, the People, have got to take this country back and we HAVE to do it peacefully.
That's what the Framers of our Constitution envisioned.
I am also suggesting term limits on the NEW BUNCH --8 YEARS FOR REPRESENTATIVES AND 12 YEARS OF SENATORS. NO EXCEPTIONS. THE LONGER THEY STAY IN OFFICE THE MORE POWER THEY GET AND THEY LOVE IT AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET RE-ELECTED.
WE HAVE TERM LIMITED THE PRESIDENT -- NOW LET'S TERM LIMIT THE LEGISLATORS.
Dear Whotosupport?:
The main problem here, is that Hapless Harry Reid HASN'T DONE ANYTHING. To him, it's all about:
1) Staying in office
2) Fomenting political contacts
3) Pocketing behind-the-scenes cash
He does NOT support his constituents, and couldn't care less about what we, the people, want.
Simple as that.
Isn't Sue Lowden the one who blocked Ron Paul supporters from the RNC? Ron Paul is the one who completely supports the Constitution, isn't that what all the tea-parties are all about? Also, Ms. Lowden is not saying anything different than any of the other bags of hot wind. If she really wants to separate herself from the pack and show that she has integrity, she needs to challenge the non-federal fraud the Federal Reserve and demand they be audited so we can find out where our trillions went. Otherwise, she really is just another politician and is no different from Harry Reid.