CARSON CITY – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle said in an interview last week that her opponent is trying to make her Christian religion an issue to divert voters from the real problems facing the U.S. and Nevada, including the economy and jobs.

Angle, appearing on the Nevada NewsMakers television program on Wednesday, said U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is distorting her Southern Baptist religious views and trying to make a campaign issue out of her faith.

“This has never been an issue in any other campaign until now,” she said.

Her comments came in response to a question from NewsMakers host Sam Shad, who read an email from a Republican voter and self-described atheist who said he is inclined to vote for Angle if she can clarify that she respects secular opinion and the secular nature of the Republic.

Angle said she would welcome such support.

“I’m very Reaganist in all of this,” she said. “If we agree 80 percent of the time we are friends. My message has always been the same: our economy, our jobs and our homes.”

The Reid campaign is attempting to paint Angle as having extreme views on a number of issues, including refusing to accept the separation of church and state.

Angle was also asked in the interview to respond to a comment by former Republican Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian in a New York Times story saying Reid had no chance to win before but is now favored to win.

Angle said Tarkanian is supporting her campaign and questioned whether he was quoted accurately.

Asked about the debate about whether a mosque should be built near Ground Zero in New York City, Angle said those supporting the project have a right to build where they own property, but that they should be take the concerns of many Americans into account.

“They need to be sensitive to the culture, they need to be sensitive to what happened on 9-11 and understand that this is one of those moments in American history that is very, very heartfelt,” she said.

Angle said her plan to get the $13.3 trillion federal deficit under control is to cut back spending by 5 percent per year for the next five years, prioritizing spending first for those programs and services the federal government should and must provide. Other programs are better performed by the states, and others should be done away with completely because they aren’t within the government’s purview, she said.

The services provided by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Education would be better provided by the states, Angle said.

Border security is an example of where the federal government should be prioritizing spending, she said.

“We need to keep our priorities straight which is first of all the common defense,” Angle said.

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Audio clips:

Senate candidate Sharron Angle says Reid has made religion an issue in campaign:

081810Angle1 :12 talk about this.”

Angle says NYC mosque supporters should be sensitive to the 9-11 tragedy:

081810Angle2 :21 very, very heartfelt.”

Angle says cutting federal deficit would boost economy:

081810Angle3 :12 the rules are.”