Sharrontology Got on Ralston's Bad Side, Does State Horrible Disservice

I guess Sharron Angle's campaign never realized what would happen if they were to anger our fair state's #1 curmudgeonly pundit. Here's a quick recap:

"Earlier today, Sharron Angle's campaign agreed to accept our invitation to debate Harry Reid on 'Face to Face' in an hour-long live broadcast from Reno on October 21st. Within hours of Reid accepting, Angle's campaign called to say, well, it's backing out now," Ralston said on the local news show "Face to Face" Thursday. He then played a clip of Angle saying she would like to have a debate on the show with Reid.

"I thought I had seen it all in this campaign. I guess not," Ralson continued. "I had agreement from Angle's deputy campaign manager for this debate, but soon after we announced Reid had agreed to the date and place, her campaign spokesman called to say there was no agreement. I'm not making this up, folks. A campaign spokesman overrules a deputy campaign manager? I really don't understand the hierarchy in that campaign."

The Angle campaign subsequently sent out a press release saying there would be a debate -- at a local high school. Ralston responded on Twitter, "But Reid won't even be there. He already taped Q and A at skl. #lame #amateurhour."

Later he added, "Remember "Scanners" where people's heads exploded. That's how I feel right now. This is a Senate race, not a competition for h.s. president." He added this morning that he is "Still stunned. She is on tape!"

Of course, there's even more at Ralston's Twitter haven. Now I have to be fair. I've had my disagreements with him. At times, I do wonder if he "plays favorites" with the candidates. And ultimately, I get annoyed when he gets too "gossipy".

Still, no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, can question Ralston's street creds as Nevada's top political reporter/pundit/opinion-maker/media-superstar. And at the end of the day, it's never a good idea to go out of one's way to piss him off.

That's what Sharrontology's campaign did last night, and I have a feeling he may not have much mercy left over for them after this stunt.

And by the way, why are they so afraid of Angle debating Harry Reid? Does her campaign team fear she's not up to the challenge? Are they afraid of what will happen as more Nevadans figure out who she really is? Or do they just prefer that Karl Rove's corporate-funded attack ads do all the talking for them?

Whatever the case, it actually isn't just Jon Ralston or Sunbelt Communications losing over this... It's all of us.