In stark contrast to stiff-suited Presidents Obama and Clinton who recently visited Nevada to stump for Harry Reid, Arizona’s rhetorically loose and often politically incorrect Sheriff Joe Arpaio this week headlined a rally for Sharron Angle at Stoney’s Rockin’ Country bar on south Las Vegas Boulevard.
Arpaio appeared Tuesday as part of the Tea Party Express bus tour that kicked of Monday in Reno and featured Sarah Palin. The sheriff, who often speaks at Tea Party events around the nation, endorsed Angle last month .
The sheriff was reportedly unfazed when he mispronounced Angle’s last name and people in the crowd corrected him, shouting out, “Angle! Angle!”
Angle has “said some nice things about me,” Arpaio told the enthusiastic crowd. “It’s very nice.”
When Arpaio spoke at Stoney’s before a crowd of about 1,000 back in May, he drew about 200 protesters who were angry about the Arizona immigration law. Arpaio told the crowd this Tuesday he was a little disappointed the protesters hadn’t shown up to heckle him this time.
Angle did not participate in either Tea Party Express event this week because federal law prevents her from coordinating with the group, even though it has spent more than $1 million helping her wage war against Reid.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also plans to appear in Las Vegas with Angle on Thursday evening.