Now the real battle begins
As the votes rolled in Tuesday evening it became apparent that Nevada's consummate conservative outsider, the former six-year Northern Nevada assemblywoman who used her own money to fight the state Supreme Court's appalling "Guinn v. Legislature" tax-hike decision through the courts, the woman whose anti-spending positions often put her on the losing side of votes tallied "41-to-Angle," Sharron Angle was going to win the right to challenge unpopular Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid this fall.
Casino owner and former state Sen. Sue Lowden was the early front-runner. National Republicans anxious for a credible Reid challenger found instant true love with the attractive former TV newscaster, beauty queen, and USO showgirl, now a successful casino executive who carried herself well and her hefty family checkbook even better.
But in a three-way race, as famous coach's son Danny Tarkanian pounded his demand to cut off all benefits for illegal immigrants, Ms. Lowden's more moderate positions looked pale. Ms. Lowden said there were some parts of the Obamacare socialized medicine scheme we should keep -- another bowl of lukewarm oatmeal offered to frustrated conservatives in search of red meat.
As Ms. Angle piled up endorsements from the Tea Party Express and Gun Owners of America, it often seemed Ms. Lowden was running a moderate Republican campaign better suited to the last century than to a recession-wracked nation seeking a firebrand to rally the forces of freedom against the Obamanation.
In the end, the Angle surge is the best evidence yet that the "Tea Party" phenomenon is real.
Will this newfound constitutional and philosophical rigor mobilize the troops and carry the GOP to victory in November? Now comes a crucial month. Harry Reid -- the real career politician -- is doubtless chafing at the bit to condemn Ms. Angle as a "budget cutter with an ax," liable to close down whole federal departments, starting with the federal Department of Education.
Which is exactly what she was nominated for.
Handed a silver coin at the conclusion of her victory speech, Ms. Angle said "This is what we've got to get back to -- a dollar that is solid and based on solid Nevada silver."
What, instead of melt-in-your-hand Federal Reserve Notes?
It's a new day in America. Americans have seen the ravenous, job-destroying far-left "bailout" agenda uncaged, and they don't like it. Now is not the time to go on the defensive. In fact, it's the Democrats who have to constantly change the subject, who dare not advance their current agenda in straightforward terms, lest they be laughed out of town.
Ms. Angle's task is to tie Mr. Reid to the Barack Obama agenda he's been marshaling through the Congress for the past year and a half. That should now be the subject of debate.
