Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle told a conservative radio host on Wednesday that when she is elected to office, she will reverse her now-longstanding policy of avoiding the political press.
During an appearance on the Heidi Harris Show (one of the few forums that Angle visits), the Tea Party backed candidate explained that the reason she has dodged reporters during the campaign is because they don't "promote" her. Instead, she argued, the media has given lavish coverage to her opponent, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
That, of course, changes if Angle wins on November 2. And with that hypothetical scenario as a basis, the Nevada Republican expressed hope for a more civil relationship with the Fourth Estate in 2011.
Harris: No question about that, now real quickly I was at an event the other night. The press was there and you didn't talk to the press which has kind of been your habit lately. Other than me. I mean you talk to me, but these reporters, I know a lot of them want to getcha. I understand they're not on your side. They're looking for that gotcha moment, but if you get elected which I expect you to do, what kind of relationship would you have with the press, cause they're really frustrated, and even those in the press who like you are saying hey wait a second, we want her to talk to us about something. You think it'll be a little bit different after you get elected?
Angle: Well certainly it will be, because as you know, the lamestream media or the left-leaning progressive press are really very much in Harry Reid's camp. They promote him as much as they can, and certainly that's not their intent when they come to interview me.
Harris: Of course not. Right.
Angle: It's not to promote me.
Harris: Right they don't. Right.
Angle: And I'm hoping that as we get into this once I get elected Senator that they will be much more civil and we will have a very civil discourse.
There is, of course, something a bit troubling about a Senate candidate insisting he or she will only deal with the press after they've been elected. But Angle is one of a handful of GOP Senate aspirants who has studiously avoided the media in hopes of not suffering a self-inflicted wound.
Despite her pledges to change course upon election, the relationship in place now seems likely to hold true once the theater shifts to the halls of Congress. If anything, the likelihood remains that the freshmen GOP class will continue to keep quiet -- out of respect for the seniority system and with the knowledge that other lightning rods (Al Franken, Hillary Clinton) were successful primarily by keeping their heads down.