Angle’s Rancho High fire could burn until Election Day

When historians one day pick their jaws up off the floor and record the 2010 Nevada U.S. Senate campaign for posterity, they may find themselves writing about, of all places, Rancho High School in North Las Vegas as the turning point in the race.

It was there on Friday Republican challenger Sharron Angle might have finally spoken the words even she can't walk away from.

Angle pegged the political double-speak meter when she failed to give a straight answer to a Rancho student's question about her campaign's obvious portrayal of Hispanics in its anti-illegal immigration commercials.

No one really expected her to admit the whole truth -- that painting incumbent Harry Reid as the "best friend" of the shadowy, fence-climbing brown people on this issue plays well with her base. (Just as no one waits for Reid to confess he's been grooming the Hispanic vote as a key to his re-election strategy.)

But when Angle couldn't even level a little bit with the group of mostly Latino high schoolers, she started a fire that could motivate voters and burn all the way until Election Day. That could cost her dearly.

As with other issues in which Angle has retreated (Social Security, unemployment insurance benefits, etc.) she only made matters worse when she has tried to soften her fiery original rhetoric. This time, she managed to deny the contents of her own commercial.

"I think that you're misinterpreting those commercials," she told the students in a gathering that was videotaped -- a copy of which was sent to The Associated Press. "I'm not sure that those are Latinos in that commercial. What it is, is a fence, and there are people coming across that fence. What we know is that our northern border is where the terrorists came through."

Oh, baloney.

Forget the 9/11 terrorists had passports and didn't climb any fences. Never mind, the last I checked, no American politician was lamenting the flow of fence-hopping Canadians into the United States.

Then Angle added, "I don't know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me."

She couldn't be saved by the bell before she added, "What we know about ourselves is we are a melting pot in this country. My grandchildren (some of whom are half-Hispanic) are evidence of that. I've been called the first Asian legislator in the Nevada Assembly."

Asian?

I'm beginning to suspect Martian.

Angle must be from another planet if she expects people to believe she's not using anti-Hispanic imagery to paint Reid as pro-illegal immigration while she stands as the campaign's unofficial Border Patrol agent.

Angle's political timing grew measurably worse in the wake of the rout at Rancho when the Republican-backed Latinos for Reform produced a Spanish-language television commercial imploring voters to stay home on Election Day.

"Don't vote this November," it states, flashing anti-Democrat images. "This is the only way to send them a clear message."

The campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval sent his own clear message on Tuesday when he sprinted to distance itself from Latinos for Reform and repudiate its tactics: "The television ad imploring Hispanics not to vote should be taken down immediately. It is outrageous, and has no place in Nevada. No voter should have their right to vote suppressed or denied."

Univision refused to run the commercial.

And Angle?

She owed no apology, campaign spokesman Jerry Stacy said, because she wasn't behind the ad. It was Reid who was playing racial politics.

Angle, meanwhile, was preparing for an appearance by Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the tough-on-illegal-immigrants lawman.

"Every state should have a sheriff like Joe Arpaio," Angle gushed in last week's debate.

Angle's anti-immigration ads are alarmist and insensitive. And it's disingenuous of her to pretend the commercials don't characterize illegals as sinister brown people.

And, no, I don't mean tan Canadians.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.