U.S. Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian didn’t back off the thrust of his comments published on CNN’s website today, in which he alleged Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian is a fake candidate put into the race to help incumbent Harry Reid. Tarkanian told the news channel that “Harry Reid’s staff, campaign, whatever” got Ashjian to jump into the race, especially since he, like Tarkanian, is of Armenian descent.
While Tarkanian maintained Ashjian is a spoiler in the race, he did admit there are no direct ties to Reid or the senator’s re-election campaign. (Reid has denied he knows Ashjian, or that he induced him to file for office on the brand-new Tea Party ticket.) Ashjian in interviews has strongly denied he’s a Reid plant.
“I don’t know who’s behind it,” Tarkanian said. “Do I expect Harry Reid to be behind it? No. Do I expect his campaign to be behind it? No,.” But, he added, “they [Reid supporters] got this guy to run in my opinion.”
Why does he think that? Tarkanian cites circumtantial evidence:
- Tea Party activists say they don’t know Ashjian, nor has he been active in the citizen’s movement.
- Ashjian says he dislikes Reid and wants to see him beat, but at least one poll shows his presence in the race hurts the Republican candidate, and thus helps Reid.
- Ashjian didn’t get into the race until January, while other candidates have declared their intentions to run much earlier.
“What evidence is there that he’s a legitimate candidate running because of his love of country?” asked Tarkanian. “Common sense, reasonable deduction … tells you the guy is in the race to help Reid.”
But even if polls show Adhjian helping Reid, what evidence is there that his ethnic background played a role in getting him on the ballot? Tarkanian said Armenians tend to be close and, if they see one of their own with a chance to win office, would rally and vote for that person. Ironically, Tarkanian said that on the same day that the Armenian Council of America PAC endorsed him for Senate.
In addition, Tarkanian said, Ashjian is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as is Reid. But it’s widely known that Reid — one of the highest-ranking Mormons in political life, ever — has a contentious relationship with his fellow churchgoers, many of whom see his membership in the Democratic Party and voting record as running counter to church principles. Officially, the church says it stays out of its members personal political decisions.
UPDATE: An online poll of Tea Party activists apparently agree that Ashjian’s candidacy will help Reid.
UPDATE 2: Nevada Tea Party activists denounce the new Tea Party, say it’s not invited to future events, reports the Nevada News Bureau.
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Waa, waaa, waaa. A fractured far right Republican party is further fractured by a further far right bunch of wackos.
Delicious.
Now all that has to happen is for people to label little Tarkie as a centrist leaning surrender monkey.
Which, of course, he is.
As for the Tea Party, nothing goes better with tea than a little crumpet. I think that is the greatest skill Republican Senator Ensign has is his bringing forth the crumpet to the Tea Party.
And boy, he likes to slather his clotted cream thickly in those nooks and crannies.
Poor little scared “Tarky”…. is he more worried about Ashjian or is he worried about the people finding out what he did at Fresno State,ie; underage girls, bar room fights, point shaving, drugs, domestic violence, pay offs;etc, etc..etc…
This guy is scum and EVERYONE IN FRESNO KNOWS IT!!!!!! HIM AND HIS DAD WERE RUN OUT OF TOWN!!!!!!!!!!!! A Reid plant???? really??? “Tarky boy” you are pathetic!!!!!!!!!AND THE SEX TAPE???????? WHY ARNET WE TALKING ABOUT THIS??????
You went to the school of BILL CLINTON!!!!
ASHJIAN IS THE ONLY “REAL” CANDIDATE IN THIS RACE!!!!!!!!
SCOTT …….PRESS ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ASHJIAN 4 SENATE!!!!!!!!!!!!2010
The Republican Party loves to throw this fearmongering stuff all over the place, especially when it suits their purpose. And they have been so good at it they are encouraging themselves to use it pretty much all the time. They continually pat themselves on the back. Because they believe it works.
Well, something just happened where it backfired on them. They basically fearmongered themselves by throwing out this incredible conspiracy theory.
Also, I’ve seen a lot of articles where they say Senator Reid is stupid and dumb. But then in the same breath, they throw this convoluted and intricate scheme out there, a dastardly plot to wrest control away from the Republican Party front runner by going in cahoots with a third party candidate; and it is very convenient that he is an Armenian like Tark the Shark too! The evident question is: If Senator Reid is an imbecile, how did he come up with something like this?
It’s all laughable.
I guess to be a Republican in Nevada, they are required to watch old re-runs of “The X Files” to get campaign ideas: Trust no one, the truth is out there, WAY WAY out there, there’s a conspiracy under every rock, Mulder and Scully!
Just when you think they stretched the bounds of credibility and patience, the blast off past the stratosphere and into the moronosphere even beyond the Planet KryptoGlennBeck.
I’m pulling for Harry Reid, so I welcome Ashjian’s entry into the race. I’ll be glad to see him siphon off votes from the Republican nominee. At the same time, I can’t help but think of him as this year’s Jerry Airola, someone with a dubious business background who’s trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Nevada voters. To me, he clearly is jumping on a bandwagon that he hasn’t really been a part of, seeking to capitalize on the movement’s momentum while actually, effectively, working against their interests. Pretty sneaky! But again, it helps my candidate, so I say: Run, Scott, run!