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Last night, Fox News reported that Lisa Murkowski, defeated in the Republican primary for US Senate in Alaska, would mount an independent campaign for the seat against her GOP opponent Joe Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams. Murkowski cited a tremendous amount of support from Alaskans as a motivating factor should she decide to run, which she could only do as a write-in candidate at this stage, unless she could convince the Libertarian Party to give her their ballot line. Last month the executive board of the Libertarian Party rejected the notion, but Murkowski met with the Libertarian candidate, David Haase, on Tuesday.
A senior official in Murkowski’s camp told Fox News that he “fully expects” Murkowski to launch a write-in candidacy, though she is still open to a Libertarian Party ticket run. However, the official could not offer any timetable for an announcement, noting that she could still decide to retire.
“She’s keeping her own counsel on this one. As far as I know, she’s told no one,” the aide said.
Another source also said he expects the senator to launch a write-in candidacy and could announce her plans on Friday. Others had expected Murkowski to make an announcement on Wednesday; instead she attended a funeral in Juneau.
What’s notable here is not necessarily whether or not Murkowski runs; it’s the ferocity with which the Republicans have already struck back at a member of the leadership team in the Senate. Not only have they openly expressed their opposition to Murkowski running (even though polls show it would make McAdams less likely to win, not more), not only have the top PACs already started donating to Joe Miller, but Roll Call reports that Murkowski would have to give up her leadership position if she persists:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will likely be forced out of her party leadership position should she decide to launch a write-in or third-party candidacy, a Senate Republican said Wednesday [...]
Although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and other GOP leaders have not yet formally discussed what to do if Murkowski does run, the Senate Republican said there is likely no scenario in which she would be allowed to remain Republican Conference vice chairwoman.
According to this source, Murkowski could simply resign her position, or McConnell and other leaders could press her to resign. The conference could also formally vote to strip Murkowski of her leadership mantle.
All the sources are anonymous, which is a bit cowardly, but none of them equivocated whatsoever. “She’s an adult. She lost the race,” said one senior GOP aide.
Now, if Murkowski actually does this and wins, she would likely be welcomed back into the Republican caucus, especially if the numbers in the Senate are close. It would be interesting to see what would happen with her seniority and her Natural Resources Committee chairmanship. But clearly, the Republican leadership is trying to force her out of the race right now, and going public with it to boot.
And think back to 2006. Not only did no member of the Democratic leadership even think about stripping Joe Lieberman of his seniority when he lost his primary, but several Senators openly supported his third-party run. And Ned Lamont’s support from the party and the Senate leadership was tepid at best.
It’s the old story. National Republicans are either afraid of their base or a part of it, and either way they openly align with it; National Democrats are contemptuous of theirs.
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Soon they are going to learn that they can’t win without their base, especially organized labor. And to get our support back, they’re going to have to show us some enthusiastic love.
My emails overnight indicate that Lisa is still trying to negotiate with the Libertarians, but has gotten no requests from PACs in the GOP leadership to return the $$$ in her war chest – something over $1.1 million.
More on Teabagger Joe from Michael Carrie, whose Fairbanks contacts are extensive.
and…Harry Reid…what about Lieberman??????????
Thanks Edward, hopefully you’ll write some more about this.
Murkowski would have had better luck contacting Brad Friedman of Bradblog to investigate about voting irregularities.
My take: Republics don’t so much fear their base; I think they pander to it bc they can manipulate their base, ultimately, to do their bidding. They were very quick off the mark to astro-turf the Tea Party in order to control them (and were d*mn good at that). Sure let the Tea Partiers worship Glenn Beck. Who cares? As long as they reliably turn up and vote either Tea Party or republic, it doesn’t matter.
Dems & Republics, of course, hate the leftist base bc we are grounded in reality; refuse adamantly to be manipulated and brainwashed; and insist on telling the truth complete with proven facts & YouTube videos.
Well I’m a card carrying member of the Professional Left, and I can hardly imagine a scenario in which the Rats could ever win back my support.
You’re describing the difference between authoritarians and free thinkers.
IIRC, you were quite vocal in your support for Hillary Clinton in the primaries as you denounced Obama. Do you still believe that Hillary could be a force for good (ie:liberal causes) or was your support based on your feeling that Hillary was the lesser of two evils?
I agree. R’s are not afraid of their base. R’s co-opt what they perceive to be a vote getter (T Party, Christian Fundys, Forced Births, Gay Bashing). R’s will slap a coat of paint on pure shit and run with it.
Democrats are beginning to copy the Republican style of tv ad. All emotion and no substance (issues).
Voters tend to make their decision based on an emotional identification of candidates and/or issues – think Reagan revolution, no “there” there at all, but it was satisfying from an emotional perspective for those who bought his bill of goods locks, stock and barrel. It can be argued that Dems like Dukakis, Mondale, Gore, and Kerry did not appeal to the emotions of voters enough. The emotion part is something Libs/Progressives need to work on better to make a connection with voters, on substance we win hands down but its hard as hell to get someone to logically accept your position when their gut doesn’t like you.
Yep. No free thinking allowed! F*ucking r*tards!
Strong circumstantial evidence that Murkowski will run as a third-party candidate is the deafening silence coming out of Alaska labor.
In any state other than Alaska, labor would be rallying around a Democratic candidate in a unique position to snatch away the seat of a anti-labor Republican. Not so, with McAdams. Why?
LOL
Is there much of a labor presence in Alaska?
Has anybody noted Joe Miller as in a Joe Miller joke?
I don’t know if it helps that the candidates name is synonymous with a very old joke.
Oh, yes, Alaska is among the top five most unionized states in the country. Sarah and the First Dude have even described themselves as former union members.
Unions came to Alaska in a big way with the North Slope oil field development in the 1970s. Teamsters, Steelworkers, Electrical Workers and Operating Engineers all have major operations there. Public sector union also grew strongly in the 80s and 90s.
Unions made their peace with the Alaska Republican party long ago, and have provided strong support to the Murkowski machine over the years.
Um, except they HAVE endorsed Scott McAdams:
In fact, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is trying to paint this endorsement as a Bad Thing.
Except of course the AFL-CIO endorsed McAdams last month.
My bad, Phoenix Woman, I missed the AFL-CIO endorsement when I searched a couple of days ago.
Alaska state AFL-CIO did not endorse McAdams until Sept. 2, and the Teamsters are still silent. Let’s see where the money goes when Murkoswki announces her independent bid.
What union was the First Dude a part of(and still might be a part of for all I know)?
First Dude had been a member of the United Steelworkers, but that was from the days when he worked in the oil fields. I doubt he does that anymore.
A spokesperson for Glenn Beck tells CBS News that the conservative Fox News and talk radio host will be donating his speaking fee from the event he is holding with Sarah Palin in Alaska on September 11th.
“Glenn had always intended to donate the speaking fee from the event on Saturday, September 11th in Alaska to Special Operations Warrior Foundation,” the spokesperson said.
In addition, the spokesperson said, “Governor Palin is not and was never going to receive a fee for introducing Glenn at this event
Fine-would all you suffers of PDS apologize for the lies and calumnies you directed against Palin when this blog said she and Beck were using this event to enrich themselves-fat chance.
Any idea of how much those “charities” have actually donated to their supposed beneficiaries? Or are they like many other so called charities that just seem to have operating costs so high that there just isn’t enough left to pay out?
That’s not the point-duh. This blog and the comments seection went PDs accsuing them both of taking a fee on 9/11 without knowing any of the facts.
You have zero credibilty