Angle mocks McCain as 'Lord of the TARP'

By Cameron Joseph - 07/28/11 08:26 AM ET

Former Republican Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle blasted Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for criticizing the Tea Party movement, mocking him as the "Lord of the TARP" for his support of the financial bailout.

Angle was reacting to McCain's own sharp comments from the Senate floor. On Wednesday, McCain called senators pushing for a balanced-budget amendment as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling "foolish" and "bizarro."

He also slammed Angle by reading a Wall Street Journal editorial describing Tea Partiers as "hobbits." The editorial said that refusing to back House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was "the kind of crack political thinking that turned Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell into GOP Senate nominees."

Angle's retort: "Ironically, this man campaigned for Tea Party support in his last reelection, but now throws Christine O’Donnell and I into the harbor with Sarah Palin. As in the fable, it is the hobbits who are the heroes and save the land. This Lord of the TARP actually ought to read to the end of the story and join forces with the Tea Party, not criticize it."

O'Donnell was the GOP Senate candidate in Delaware last year and was easily defeated. Some Republicans argue O'Donnell and Angle were weak candidates and that Republicans might have won those seats with different nominees.

Angle noted that McCain campaigned for her in 2010, and that he chose Palin to be his vice presidential candidate in 2008.

"One man in Washington, who chose Sarah Palin to be his VP running mate and came to Nevada to campaign for me [emphasis hers] last year in the Senate race against Harry Reid, is now promoting attacks against Tea Party activists, ordinary American citizens and fiscally conservative members of Congress — all of whom are adamantly opposed to continuing the deficit-spending strategies proposed by some congressional members and the president," Angle wote.

Angle's response comes as she eyes a run for the U.S. House next fall. She had originally planned to campaign in the special election for Nevada's 4th district, which was left open when then-Rep. Dean Heller (R) was appointed to the Senate, but party leaders pressured her out of the race.