Angle: Republicans Have 'Lost Their Standards' and 'Their Principles

In private, Sharron Angle may be as bold and brash as she is in public. An audio recording has emerged of the Nevada GOP Senate candidate criticizing the Republican establishment during a meeting with third-part rival Scott Ashjian and his allies.

"The Republicans have lost their standards, they've lost their principles," Angle said in a thirty-eight minute audio recording obtained by the Las Vegas Sun. "Really that's why the machine in the Republican Party is fighting against me... They have never really gone along with lower taxes and less government."

According to HuffPo, Angle goes on to make a biblical comparison:

"You gotta get my armor off and let me pick up this sling," she said drawing a comparison between her fight and that of David and Goliath. "That's exactly where I am right now, is trying to get them to leave me alone for long enough so I can get my sling and go after this guy. There are just these issues."

Politico's Ben Smith thinks the recording reveals a consistent message:

It suggests that -- at least for the purposes of this conversation with a Tea Party figure -- behind the facade of a real grassroots outsider who hates the organized Republican Party is ... a real grassroots outsider who hates the organized Republican Party.

According to the Sun's John Ralston (who released the recording) the meeting was meant to convince Ashjian that unless he embraces and supports Angle's candidacy, the Tea Party of Nevada contender could help Democratic incumbent Harry Reid win.

You can listen to the entire 38-minute recording here. As Ralstonsays, "It is a unique and quite entertaining fly-on-the-wall look inside a campaign."

UPDATE:

Politico reports that Ashjian is the one who recorded the meeting and leaked it to Ralston so as to protect Ashjian if Angle "lied" about the meeting: