I admit that I want polished and personable politicians. I also admit that that is a childish and counterproductive desire – especially with Senators, whose only important job is to vote on things. Still, I get creeped out by weird politicians and in Nevada, both Senate candidates creep me the hell out. Incumbent Senator Harry Reid (D) is a slow spoken dim bulb spread on a slice of blah-milquetoast while his challenger Sharon Angle is a tightly wound awkward jittery goof that gives the impression of no one really being “there” on the inside. I’m not a Republican and I don’t live in Nevada, so I have no say in this whatsoever, but I would have preferred either of Angles 2 main challengers: Danny Tarkanian – son of some famous coach of some sport or something and Sue Lowden – a former beauty pageant winner (with other accomplishments that I dont care about). But Angle was the “Tea Party” favorite and she won the Republican nomination, which gives Nevadans an icky choice to make. I started leaning towards Angle after a pitch for her made by Dennis Miller, which makes sense, but then Reid came at me with this very personable 4 minute silly interview. First, here’s Millers take on Angle:
Miller had a previous high profile rant against Reid in 2007 that was of similar thesis.
The clip of Reid is from RighNetwork, a new conservative Cable “On Demand” channel that has these little segments where they ask silly questions to some political figure. So far Reid is the only left-of-center person in the series and i’m not sure why he’s included at all. There are no gotcha questions or any tips that this is an opposition media source that is sitting down with him. The tone is jovial and light and Reid comes off excellently.
UPDATE: So dazzled by Reids show of genuine humanity was I that I failed to notice how badly he fumbled the question of “Can you think of a greatest living American?” by naming 2 famous, but pretty unremarkable (for anything good anyway) senators who are, eh, no longer living:
It may be even more remarkable that Reid apparently can’t comprehend a softball question. What do these two have in common? They’re both dead, not living. What else do they have in common? Their supposed greatness came from winning elections in safe seats for almost half a century or more. Byrd’s example is especially notable, as Byrd was a Klan recruiter who used that safe seat to filibuster the Civil Rights Act in the Senate. Kennedy used his connections and his political power to duck responsibility for a vehicular homicide, and then lived a dissolute life on the grandest of American stages.
Most people would look outside the clubby Senate for a greatest living American anyway, but even if they didn’t, they would be looking for an American that still registers above room temperature.