Harry Reid's battle plan against Sharron Angle: Paint her as whackjob

Harry Reid's political operation in Nevada is quietly assembling a battle plan to take on Tea Partyer Sharron Angle in the general election, presuming she beats Sue Lowden in today's GOP primary.

The strategy: Use her own words to paint her as, well, a complete whackjob. Sound familiar? That's what ground up Lowden in the wake of the chickens-for-checkups gaffe.

Exhibit A: An interview Angle gave in which she suggested she favors outlawing alcohol and supports legislating morality. This, in Nevada.

In an interview with Liberty Watch magazine, Angle expressed her opposition to legalizing marijuana, and added: "I feel the same about legalizing alcohol."

"The effect on society is so great that I'm just not a real proponent of legalizing any drug or encouraging any drug abuse," Angle said. "I'm elected by the people to protect, and I think that law should protect."

Asked whether legislating morality is appropriate, she added: "I don't think you can get away from that; people just make value judgments. We're not a neutral society. Politics, especially, are not neutral and no one can come to the table value-less or moral-less."

Reid allies will point out the absurdity of someone who wants to represent Nevada appearing to oppose legal alcohol and to support legislating morality.

Reid aides also plan to aggressively highlight an interview Angle gave in which she conceded she's so conservative that even Republicans call her "wacky."

And they will point to Angle's support for a prison drug rehabilitation program that involves massages and saunas and is based on an idea pushed by the Church of Scientology.

Reid's operation, with a big assist from Lowden, managed to turn an offhand remark about chickens into a six-week story. They think they have far more to work with in Angle's own words, which explains why they believe an Angle victory tonight would give Reid a far better chance of holding his seat.

By Greg Sargent | June 8, 2010; 4:15 PM ET
Categories: 2010 elections , Senate Dems , Senate Republicans




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