Series of blunders sinks media savvy Sue Lowden’s ship

The sense of sorrow at Sue Lowden's party was palpable and two-pronged. First there was the sorrow among her friends and supporters that Lowden was losing her bid to challenge U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. But underlying that was the sorrow and suspicion that victor Sharron Angle can't beat him.

Nobody wanted their names attached to their fears, but half a dozen Republicans quietly agreed Angle won't be able to draw enough nonpartisans and disgruntled Democrats to her side in November. Now I'm sure, if I had been at the GOP party at The Orleans on Tuesday instead of at Lowden's party, Republicans wouldn't be so downcast about Angle's chances. But this was a GOP mainstream establishment crowd.

Some admitted they regretted Republican Congressman Dean Heller refused to take on the tough fight against Reid, choosing instead to take an easy ride to re-election. His decision in August opened the door to a divisive GOP primary battle in which Lowden, Angle, Danny Tarkanian and nine other also-rans battled for the hearts of Nevada Republicans. Despite the crowded field, the former Reno assemblywoman backed by the Tea Party Express won with 40 percent of the vote -- 14 points ahead of Lowden.

When Lowden announced Oct. 1 she was in the race, one of the skills attributed to the former anchorwoman was how media savvy she was. That turned out to be incorrect.

She made a series of blunders that gave her foes, liberal and conservative, material for mocking ads.

Sure there was the barter for health care stumble that she refused to reject when given the chance, showing a stubborn pigheadedness. (Notice I made no chicken jokes.)

But she also flubbed it when she wouldn't take a stance on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on a television program, although after the show she was for it. And the Reid car bombing she couldn't remember on a radio show showed she hadn't prepped for the race by reading his book.

Lowden wasn't looking very smart and certainly wasn't looking media savvy.

She lost for many reasons, some of her own making, some not. But moving from front-runner to failure in a matter of a few weeks is one for the books.

The party at View 215, an upscale reception site, drew more than 100 people, but the only time there was any energy in the room was when Lowden gave her gracious concession speech. "If she'd spoken like that during the campaign, she would have won," one supporter said.

Earlier in the evening, when the early voting numbers emerged from Elko County and Lowden and Angle were neck and neck, her campaign manager Robert Uithoven said, "Tying with Angle in early voting in Elko is good." I laughed because it sounded like desperation. But he meant it.

When early voting numbers in Clark County were reported, and Angle trailed Lowden by less than 4 percent on Lowden's home turf, the numbers crunchers knew that wasn't good enough. Slowly but surely, Angle's lead advanced.

Lowden's reputation was that she was a moderate. Former Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt said, "She's a fiscal conservative and a social moderate. Maybe she was too moderate."

Yet former Gov. Bob List, Nevada's national GOP committeeman, said, "The Tea Party movement has obscured the fact she's as conservative and as constitutionally responsible as anyone they could have backed."

But that's not how Republican voters in Nevada saw her. To them, Lowden started to look silly in the final weeks because that's how the endless advertisements portrayed her.

Now the Reid contingency will abandon their Silly Sue approach and move on to their next campaign against Scary Sharron. Oh yes, the Boogeywoman is about to come out from under your bed, courtesy of Harry Reid's supporters.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.