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I didn’t see last night’s debate between Harry Reid and Sharron Angle, but the consensus seems to be that both speakers were terrible. However, Angle may have benefited from galactically low expectations. “Angle repeatedly found herself in verbal cul-de-sacs which she only escaped by returning to well-rehearsed talking points,” said Politico’s Jonathan Martin, “all the while blurring over some of her controversial statements or ignoring questions about them altogether.” And the Las Vegas Sun’s Jon Ralston more or less agreed: “Angle won because she looked relatively credible, appearing not to be the Wicked Witch of the West.”

So I guess that’s where we are. Freakish candidates are now held to such low standards that all they have to do is surprise us by not sounding like they belong in a locked mental ward. Welcome to 2010.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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