January 07, 2010 11:22 PM UTC

Norton's "Terrorist Rights" Line Looks Really Bad on National TV

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• by: Colorado Pols

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews asks, “what does that even mean?”

This is starting to get interesting, folks. We’ve been clear as to why we think Jane Norton is making an effort to appeal to the “Tea Party” contingent of newly-energized Republicans. But there’s a difference between a few red-meat affectations to make the hardcore base happy and what Norton is doing: from ‘abolishing’ the Department of Education, to placidly standing by while “Tea Partiers” assert all kinds of abominable things in her presence–and now this latest “terrorist rights” gem–Norton is either dreadfully overcompensating for the conservative angst her campaign initially met with…or she’s the next Michele Bachmann.

Either way, Norton can only be trotted out on national TV as a joke so many times before the question of the voters she wins over with this extreme rhetoric–as opposed to the much larger percentage she loses–becomes quite urgent for her.