If you were Sue Lowden's press secretary, this report broadcast yesterday on Reno's KTVN-TV had to be painful. The first two minutes of the clip focused on how Lowden has become a national laughingstock for proposing that bartering with chickens could help cover medical costs for uninsured Americans...and then it gets really bad, when Lowden (for the first time) tries to defend herself on camera.
It's just brutal. Definitely must-see:
Some quotes from the first part of the report:
ANCHOR BILL BROWN: Sue Lowden, one of the Republicans trying to challenge Harry Reid for U.S. Senate, is being turned into a national punch line these days.
BROWN: The latest in the so-called 'chicken-gate' as some are calling it is tonght's big story at 5:30.
REPORTER BRANDON RITTIMAN: It appears there is something such as bad publicity after all.
RITTIMAN: "It's about damage control, and political watchers don't think Lowden is doing a very good job of it."
And here's where it got really bad:
RITTIMAN: We caught up with Sue Lowden, and asked what she thought about all the buzz.
LOWDEN: I, I, I'm not sure, uh, what to say, as far if it's been dragged out of proportion.
RITTIMAN: One political scientist told me that this is where Lowden gets into trouble. She's not clearing this up. And while the whole affair seems ridiculous to some, if a candidate can't handle a gaffe about chickens, you might not expect much support at the ballot box.
RITTIMAN (TO LOWDEN): You don't regret your statement?
LOWDEN: I, I, I talk about that, that the Reid campaign is desperate to change the subject from his very unpopular health care bill.
No, Sue. You can't blame Harry Reid for your stupid idea. When you propose that uninsured folks should pay for health care with chickens, then you're the one changing the topic. And, I must say, you're doing it in most hilarious fashion.
I just hope Republicans don't see this video. If they do, Lowden is toast in the primary, and at this point, we definitely want her to be the nominee. Fortunately, there's only a month before the primary and she's leading the field.
Hopefully she pulls it out, because she's just an awful candidate. Lowden's Chickens for Checkups disaster has been unfolding for three weeks now, and each time she opens her mouth, she makes things worse. Now that she's finally gone on camera to try to turn things around, she's just gotten herself stuck even deeper in the ditch.
If she can't quell a controversy about using chickens to pay for medical care, how in the world does she think she's going to be able to defeat Harry Reid?