Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Tim D’Annunzio pulls another one ? this time telling a talk show host in Charlotte “you’re probably going to hell someday for doing this.”
It’s political theater par excellence. The Charlotte Observer has the latest, which includes D’Annunzio essentially admitting that he’s finished and will probably vote for his opponent, Harold Johnson, in the fall (emphasis mine):
Deflated by new polling numbers and sagging support, Republican Tim D’Annunzio says it would “take a miracle” for him to beat Harold Johnson in Tuesday’s 8th District runoff.
His comments to the Observer came after a fiery radio interview Wednesday in which he told WBT’s Keith Larson that “there’s a special place in hell for people like you.”
So contentious – and bizarre – was the exchange that Larson called D’Annunzio “a delusional, deranged human being” and still the interview roared on.
SNIP
A survey released Wednesday by Public Policy Polling showed Johnson, a former TV sportscaster, leads D’Annunzio 49 percent to 39percent. On Tuesday the Democratic-leaning firm released results showing Kissell would face a tough battle against Johnson but enjoys a wide margin over D’Annunzio.
D’Annunzio, who led the May 4 primary, told the Observer those figures are consistent with his own polls, which show him trailing by double digits.
“As you know, that’s unrecoverable,” he said.
“There’s still an outside shot that turnout will make a difference, that there’s some silent, unpolled group out there that will show up and make a difference. It’ll take a miracle.”
He went so far as to say he’ll “probably vote” for Johnson in November.
“The Republicans,” he said, “will at least partially stop this forward movement of socialism.”
SNIP
He said he went on Larson’s show Wednesday morning to deflect the attacks.
“Of course it didn’t go very well, as you probably heard,” he said.
That might be an understatement.
D’Annunzio began what would be an hour and 15 minutes of radio theater by accusing Larson of being the narrator in Johnson’s commercials.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Larson replied.
“What you do is you use personal attacks just the way Harold does,” D’Annunzio said. “You do his dirty work and then you sit there and deny it.”
“So this is your congressional campaign now?” Larson said. “Is this the way you’re trying to pull your sagging butt from behind Harold Johnson? … Do you have any sense of how delusional and wild-eyed crazy you sound?”
D’Annunzio fired back: “If we let demented people like you choose politicians, we’ll have dunces and political hacks.”
