“Kook” and “antics”? And the RINO factor was nonexistent?
You sure about groundless accusations of voter fraud? There’s no voter fraud anywhere?
Did you know in 2011, a year AFTER that Senate race when Gov. Sandoval elevated the man who beat her in that '06 primary, Congressman Dean Heller, she let it be known that if she wasn't given the nomination for that seat, she'd throw it to the Dems, if that was the outcome. Fortunately she backed down from the threat and the GOP was able to hold it.
The RINO stuff and voter fraud wasn't necessary for Dingy in 2010. Angle succeeded in turning off enough voters that Reid didn't have to engage in general election chicanery. A good example of that is that Dingy had his son Rory running for Governor in the same election. If he had pulled the kind of fraud some are claiming around here, he could've installed his son in Carson City. Republican Brian Sandoval easily beat Rory. Dingy held his seat because he drew the opponent he wanted. It's that simple.
“There’s no voter fraud anywhere?”
And 2010 most definitely was the case of Sharron Angle losing, not Harry Reid winning. Sure, Reid has an impressive political operation that can bring out voters like there’s no tomorrow, but he would have fallen far short had Angle not been such a terrible candidate. Either Sue Lowden or Danny Tarkanian (neither of whom was a RINO, irrespective of what Angle’s fans accused them of being) would have won by a comfortable margin, which is why Harry Reid did all that he could to propel Angle to victory in the primary, knowing that she’d blow the general election. Being conservative is not sufficient to win an election; one also has to be smart enough to avoid traps and to attract more voters than the opponent.
As DJ mentioned, it was apparent to any conservative that remembered the 2006 GOP primary in NV-02 that Angle was a disaster waiting to happen if she won the Senate nomination in 2010. In case you didn’t know, Angle ran for Congress that year to replace Jim Gibbons, who was retiring to run for Governor. Angle, who had compiled a strongly conservative voting record in the state legislature, was the most conservative of the three main candidates, and was endorsed by Club for Growth and some other conservative groups. Angle also was supported my most FReepers that followed the race, including myself; I even donated to Angle’s campaign.
Although the establishment vote was split between moderate-to-conservative Secretary of State Dean Heller (who now is a U.S. Senator) and RINOish future First Lady Dawn Gibbons (the wife of the guy that vacated the seat to run for Governor), Heller managed to beat out Angle by a few hundred votes. Angle called for a recount, which was the right thing to do, but after the recount Heller still was ahead by a few hundred votes. At this point, a reasonable person would have conceded defeat, endorsed the Republican in the general election, and kept her powder dry for a future race. But not Sharron Angle. Not only did she make baseless accusations of fraud, she kept whining about the fact that some poll workers had shown up late to the primary, and then she had the audacity to *demand a new primary*. By that point, Al Gore must have been saying “gee, what a sore loser.” When her argument was laughed out of the courtroom, she refused to endorse Heller and kept sulking. At that point, it became clear to conservatives that were paying attention that Angle could not build the necessary coalitions or run the type of disciplined campaign needed to win a Senate election in Nevada as a Republican. So while I supported Angle once she won the 2010 Senate primary, I feared that even Reid’s negatives and unpopularity would be insufficient to overcome Angle’s flaws, and unfortunately my fears were realized and she got stomped on Election Day.
I wish Sharron Angle the best in whatever she chooses to do with her life, so long as running for federal office is not in her plans.