Sharron Angle not likely to flee politics

An Associated Press analysis of exit poll results from Tuesday's election showed Angle's base limited largely to white men, people over 65 years old, rural voters and fierce Reid foes. Reid triumphed among women, blacks, Asians, Hispanics and voters under the age of 44.

Angle also played a role in her own defeat by vilifying Hispanics, ignoring the advice of Washington insiders, shunning moderate Republican leaders and badmouthing government benefits like unemployment, veterans services and Social Security.

She left lots of fodder for future opponents. She ran TV spots that showed Mexicans as gang members, told Hispanic students they looked Asian, mused about an armed revolt against Capitol Hill, blasted abortions in all cases and warned of a Muslim terrorist situation in a Texas city that no longer exists. She told a reporter she would only explain her policy positions after she was elected.

"Angle could win a primary again but could she win a statewide race? No," said Kenneth Fernandez, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "Once you have those things on record they are there and they are going to be used over and over again."

Some Nevada Republicans are also fuming that Angle's refusal to take advice from successful campaign strategists may have cost them their top prize.

"For a night that was so good for Republicans across the country it just didn't feel like a celebration in Nevada," said Robert Uithoven, a Nevada GOP political consultant. "Her races over the years have been typically reliant on grassroots, door-to-door campaigning and in a race of this magnitude you needed to have more than that."