Is Angle’s ‘radical’ streak the new mainstream?

I told you so.

The question on the minds of political experts across the country this week is, “Sharron who?” Sharron Angle was, of course, the winner of the Republican U.S. Senate primary in Nevada. Few on the national scene saw this coming.

But I did.

As a Nevada “Reagan Libertarian” (a fiscal conservative and common sense libertarian), Tea Party speaker and national political commentator on networks like Fox News and Fox Business, I’ve said for months that in a “Tea Party year” anything is possible — including the election of a political outsider such as Angle.

When the public is angry and wants blood, all bets are off. Ask longtime Utah Sen. Bob Bennett and what seems like lifetime Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter. Ask the voters of Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey, who all delivered big wins to maverick underdog candidates in the past year.

Ask Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who barely escaped with her life in the Democratic primary runoff last week, only to face sure defeat in the general election in November. Ask the lieutenant governor of South Carolina, who got only 17 percent of the vote in the South Carolina governor’s race against Nikki Haley, a politically unknown female candidate endorsed by Sarah Palin.

Incumbents and establishment candidates appear to be an endangered species. The new mantra for American voters and taxpayers is VETO — Vote Every one of Them Out!

In Angle’s case, the Tea Party movement gets 100 percent of the credit. Angle was languishing in single digits, in third place, until she received the endorsement of the Tea Party Express and The Club for Growth. After that, she moved up the polls like a rocket. She blew by the GOP establishment candidate, Sue Lowden. Coming from more than 20 points down, Angle won going away. This was not a year to be the “establishment candidate” — even if you are an ex-beauty queen, ex-TV newscaster and casino owner.

Sharron Angle is a true fiscal conservative, limited government, anti-tax, Tea Party candidate.

But The Wall Street Journal just days ago described her views as “outside the mainstream.” Well I have news for The Wall Street Journal — radical is the new mainstream. The Journal described her radical positions in the past as “abolishing the federal tax code, privatizing Social Security for younger Americans, and eliminating the Education Department.” I have a funny feeling the mainstream media just doesn’t get it — yes, those views used to be out of the mainstream. But not this year, not when you’re running against the U.S. Senate majority leader who carries the water for the most socialist president in American political history.

In this year, in this race, those views are just what the people are looking for. In this state with no income taxes and a miserable, failing public school system, wanting to figure out how to end federal income taxes and dramatically reform education are welcome ideas.

It’s the status quo that Nevada’s citizens should reject. Why would we want to go back to traditional ideas that are “in the mainstream”? Mainstream ideas from traditional politicians have led to a $13 trillion national debt and more than $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. I say throw traditional and mainstream overboard. It’s time for creative and out-of-the-box ideas.

Interestingly, national studies show Sharron Angle’s views to be more in the mainstream than the views of big government candidates such as Harry Reid. Most Americans distrust government; want it made smaller; see big government as the biggest threat to their freedom; want government spending cut dramatically; and feel over-taxed. Sound familiar? Those sure aren’t Harry Reid’s “mainstream views.”

That’s precisely why the Tea Party movement has flourished against all odds.

The media may not understand it. The D.C. insiders may not understand it. But the silent majority of citizens feels unrepresented and ripped off by “business-as-usual” and establishment politicians. An awful lot of taxpayers and voters are thinking out of the box. And they’re thinking that perhaps it’s time to throw out mainstream thinking — and throw all the bums in D.C. out. It’s called “regime change.”

Nevada is the canary in the coal mine. I predict all over this country the media will be stunned by this “new world order.” Conservative and libertarian philosophy is back in vogue; “traditional,” “establishment” and “mainstream” are dirty words; and radical is the new mainstream.

The Reids (Harry and his son Rory) are in the wrong place at the wrong time. All you have to do is read the tea leaves to know that. In this new world order, Sharron Angle may be just what the doctor ordered.

Welcome to the Citizen Revolution.

Wayne Allyn Root was the 2008 Libertarian Party candidate for vice president and now serves on the Libertarian National Committee. His newest book is titled, “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts.”