Will Sharron Angle Denounce Actions of Mark Williams, Return Donations?

Or Will She Remain In the Bunker, Support Racist Element of Tea Party?

Standing on stage beside Sharron Angle as she accepted http://www.marktalk.com/blog/?p=9458, also the group’s chief spokesman, who has been widely condemned for penning a “satirical” racist screed on his blog, MARKTALK.com.

The rant was addressed to President Abraham Lincoln and used the word “colored” repeatedly, attacked the NAACP as a “racist” organization and said the people the NAACP represent “strive for” welfare and “don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing.”

This is the same man who said called Sharron Angle “the real deal,” and said Angle was a “one-person Tea Party before there was a Tea Party movement.”

Angle also told Williams that he was “instrumental” to her fundraising mission while the spokesman was filling in for conservative talker Heidi Harris. The Tea Party Express gave Angle $5,000, has spent tens of thousands of dollars running television ads on her behalf and has helped raise money from members and supporters.

Williams said the Tea Party Express has “spent more in the campaign to defeat Harry Reid than just about any other group out there in this election cycle. But this campaign isn't just about who we are opposed to; it's also about who we support.” Namely, Sharron Angle.

Meanwhile, the national Tea Party has distanced itself from Williams and his group. The National Tea Party Federation expelled the Tea Party Express from its membership over the weekend after the Express failed to rebuke Williams for his highly offensive writings.

The Tea Party Express told the Federation that it had “no intention of taking the action… required for their group to continue as a member,” the Federation said. “Therefore, effective immediately the National Tea Party Federation is expelling Tea Party Express from the ranks of our membership."

A Federation spokeswoman called Williams’ post “clearly offensive.”

So, will Sharron Angle – the “one-person Tea Party” – emerge from her underground bunker long enough to denounce the offensive and racist rants of Mark Williams and his group, the Tea Party Express? Or will she stand by him as she did the day the group endorsed her GOP Senate candidacy?

The Nevada State Democratic party is calling on Angle to return the $5,000 donation from the Tea Party Express and to return any funds it has helped her raise.

“Mark Williams’ offensive rhetoric is deplorable, and the refusal by the Tea Party Express to denounce his radical viewpoints is shocking,” said Phoebe Sweet, communications director for the Nevada State Democratic Party. “If Sharron Angle does not immediately leave the bunker to denounce the man who stood by her as the Express endorsed her, it is tantamount to backing his disgusting writings. Like the Tea Party Express, Angle has shown a reluctance to admit when she’s gone too far, but to continue to associate with a group that supports its spokesman’s over-the-top, racist statements is unacceptable and extreme.”