Lightning Rod

Sharron Angle Wants the Press to Be Her Friend

Erik Hayden 68 Views Aug 3, 2010

Sharron Angle, who once held a comfortable lead over Harry Reid in the Nevada Senate race, has become mired in her own recent rhetorical gaffes. And her latest interview with Carl Cameron on Fox News does little to stem this rising tide. In a conversation about her electoral prospects, Angle remarked, "We needed to have the press be our friend." Cameron, naturally, asked her to clarify. Then it all fell apart: "Well, no. We wanted [the media] to ask the questions we want to answer so that they report the news the way we want it to be reported," she matter-of-factly replied.

Needless to say, this wasn't what her aides were envisioning when they presumably told her to plug their campaign website. Pundits, however, have had a field day with the comments:

  • A Piquant Recipe for Media Brilliance is how Dennis DiClaudio describes it at Comedy Central's aptly-titled Election website Indecision Forever. At least she's honest: "There's got to be some easier way than this giving interviews business. I mean, it's really kind of a waste of time. Time that could be better spent counting money collected through Sharron Angle.com"
  • Fox News Didn't Edit Out Her Shameless Plug but that isn't even the point, writes a flabbergasted Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly. "I expect Angle to say insane things, but this is truly remarkable. I'm trying to imagine what the response on the right would be if President Obama said he needs independent news organizations to be his "friend," which is why he demands that reporters ask the questions he wants to answer 'so that they report the news the way we want it to be reported.'"
  • She's Begging For Money on the Air Again. Wonderful.  But something else is nagging Heather at The Video Cafe: "Does anyone else think that the interview she and Cameron did could have just as easily been a parody segment on either The Daily Show or The Colbert Report? Carl Cameron even has some of the same facial expressions when he's talking to her that we see out of Jason Jones and Stephen Colbert."
  • Chummy Media Relationships Don't Work For Republicans retorts Melissa Clouthier at the right-leaning blog, Liberty Pundits. "Why shouldn’t she have guide[d] the media? They love to be guided...if I were advising Sharron, I’d recommend that she keep her sunshiny attitude, but be ready to be disheartened. Carl Cameron is incredulous. Journolistas will be downright hostile to her friendship overture–which is their loss."
[Hat Tip: NRO]

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