Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Sue Lowden: What Chicken Barter System?

TPM

It's tricky, trying to delicately distance yourself from a comment you made without saying, "I didn't mean it!" Or worse, "I never said that!"

Just ask Sue Lowden, a Republican who's vying to challenge to Sen. Harry Reid. Lowden's been a TPM favorite ever since she first proposed bartering chickens for health care.

In a debate last night, she tried to claim she never said that she was sticking to her chicken barter "system." Unfortunately for her, there's video.

After she first said Americans should "barter" for health care at a town hall in Mesquite, she doubled down. Appearing on TV a week later, she said she wasn't "backing down from that system," pointing out that in the golden days, patients would "bring a chicken to the doctor."

She was roundly ridiculed. She tried to fight back, saying in an ad that the remarks were taken out of context by Reid and others. It didn't really work, and during a debate last night, she was asked about it again.

As Greg Sargent points out, Lowden got a little testy.

Watch:

Video produced by Rachel Slajda

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