New Tactic To Get Elected Discovered In Nevada: Don't Do Interviews

Sharron Angle, the Tea Party/GOP candidate for US Senate has avoided doing any tv/radio interviews to the point where that is now the story:

Ms. Angle, a Nevada Senate candidate and Tea Party darling, has steadfastly refused to talk to reporters here, leading to some unusually aggressive behavior by local television stations. In a segment fit for TMZ, one intrepid reporter chased her on foot outside a restaurant this month, repeatedly asking why she had once said that “if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies.” She ignored the questioner and tried to outpace him, in a video clip replayed across the state.

In her silence, Ms. Angle has exposed a fault line in political journalism. Candidates typically live and die by television exposure, with interviews supplementing the usual barrage of advertisements. But in local races across the country, there are fewer reporters asking questions on behalf of voters, and there are more media alternatives than ever, including talk radio and Facebook.

Still, Ms. Angle is quickly discovering that there is no better way to wake up a sleepy TV news crew than to refuse an interview request — or 10 requests, or 20.

“I can’t remember a time that we’ve ever had trouble with interviews,” said Mary Beth Farrell, the news director at KRNV, the local NBC affiliate. “Especially with people running for office — they usually beat our door down.”

Now, why would she want to avoid the interviews? Could it be that when pressed, she'll fold like a house of cards?

It's not like her opponent is good - Democrat Harry Reid isn't, and his positions on energy policy are standing in the way of seriously weaning the nation off its oil/gas dependence for electric power generation by thwarting the operation of the Yucca Mt. nuclear waste repository. But voters should have a right to know Angle's positions on a wide range of issues, and she's doing her best to mask her views and that simply isn't good.

It also shows a serious failing by media outlets to get her positions known to voters but now that the news is on why she keeps refusing interviews, it makes it seem like she has something to hide. Local media outlets are getting more aggressive because Angle has refused to deal with them in any fashion, and that is their job. They should be reporting on this - and if Angle isn't talking to the press, then the public should know that too.

And she surely does have something to hide. She thinks that the unemployed are spoiled. She is also on the record as saying:

“If this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking towards those Second Amendment remedies.”