"And If the Sagging Polling Numbers Hadn't Taken Yours, I'd Punch You in the Nuts," He Didn't Say

Thomas Rankin, the Libertarian running for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat, said Rep. Barbara Cubin (news, bio, voting record), R-Wyo., threatened to slap him after a televised debate. . . .

Rankin, who has multiple sclerosis and uses an electric wheelchair, said Monday night in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the confrontation occurred immediately after the debate.

"My aide and I were packing up to leave the debate, and Barbara walked over to me and said, 'If you weren't sitting in that chair, I'd slap you across the face.' That's quote-unquote," Rankin said.

In ye olde days of Shock and Awe and sky-high Republican poll numbers, she would have. She would have slapped him, turned over his chair, and pissed on its battery. But, sadly, the Republicans have gone soft.