Sue Lowden, the front-running Republican challenger to Sen. Harry Reid, yesterday doubled down on her idea that health care could be paid for using the barter system.
Last week, when Lowden suggested “that bartering is really good,” it seemed that she may have been talking about haggling prices and just had her vocab mixed up. It happens to everyone.
But yesterday, on a local news program, Lowden seemed to double down on the idea. Asked whether the statement made her seem disconnected, she shot back that it’s Reid who’s disconnected for not knowing “that this is already happening in our state.”
“Let’s change the system and talk about what the possibilities are. I’m telling you that this works. You know, before we all started having health care, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor. They would say I’ll paint your house,” she said. “[That’s] what people would do to get health care with their doctors. Doctors are very sympathetic people.”
“I’m not backing down from that system,” she added.
Reid’s campaign blasted the video clip out to reporters this afternoon (subject line: “Seriously … Has Sue Lowden Lost Her Mind?). Watch:
Lowden went on to say that barter “is not even mentioned in my plan” and said it’s just an alternative she was discussing at a town hall meeting.
The TPM Polltracker Average, in a matchup between Reid and Lowden, shows Lowden leading Reid 52.1% to 38.2%.
