Sharron Angle, the former Nevada state representative and 2010 Republican nominee for Senate, is kicking off her campaign this cycle for an open House seat by doing something she wouldn’t do last time — taking questions from reporters.
As the Reno Gazette Journal reports, Angle did indeed take some tough questions about her prior poor relationship with the press. “I am hoping that we will have a deep regard for each other,” Angle said. “That is why I wanted to do this event and invite you to have a time set aside just for us to talk and for you to ask me these questions so we can get out on the right foot.”
And she said of her own determination to finally win a federal office:
“Both Ronald Reagan and Lincoln had losses,” Angle said. “What would’ve happened to our country if they’d quit?
“A true leader leads by example, and I’m no quitter.”
Regarding her past habit of referring to reporters as “the lame stream media,” Angle said: “We were just playing with them.”
Angle’s decision to turn over a new leaf and adopt a more get-along, establishment tone with local media shouldn’t come as a surprise. Her “playing” with the press probably played some role in her defeat last November — and provided a lot of grist for posts here at TPM. For example:
⢠Angle openly said she preferred going on conservative media outlets, so that she could ask viewers for money.
⢠Her campaign invited reporters to a “press conference” — at which, after initial remarks, she took no questions and walked away, with reporters following after her.
⢠A local reporter alleged that Angle shushed him.
⢠In the final days of the election, a local reporter attempted to ask her questions, telling her that she had to answer them as a person seeking the people’s votes. Her response: “Well, certainly. http://“>And I’ll answer those questions when I’m the Senator.”
⢠After that flap, her campaign banned that reporter’s station, and another that was also there taping the encounter, from her election night party.
