Libertarians Reject Murkowski and You’re a Fly on the Wall!
The Libertarian Party of Alaska said “no go” to Senator Lisa Murkowski switching parties to run on their ticket should Tea Party candidate Joe Miller walk away with the Republican nomination for the senate seat. Wouldn’t you have loved to be a fly on the wall for that meeting?
Well, guess what? There was a fly on the wall, and apparently it can type.
On Sunday morning, over coffee and donuts, the ExComm voted unanimously, 5 to 0 to deny the Senator the ballot line. There was no malice intended. ALP Chair Kohlhaas has repeatedly stated that she is a nice lady, and the ALP was flattered by the offer.
The meeting was contentious at first. Two board members who were clearly on the Tea Party friendly Joe Miller side were combative before they realized that the other three board members agreed with them on the essentials. At a number of points the meeting even digressed into name-calling. The ‘F’ bomb was even tossed around a number of times. One board member was hellbent on holding an immediate statewide meeting open to full membership or registered Libertarians to decide the matter. That idea was shot down 4 to 1.
The vote on Murkowski was taken at about halfway through the meeting which lasted a total of 3 hours. After the result was clear, tempers calmed down, and the 5 member board moved forward with plans on how to announce the results to the media.
Soooo…. I guess this is how they announced the results to the media – f-bombs and all.
Meanwhile, on the high road, Democratic candidate Scott McAdams weighed in.
“There has been a lot of talk and speculation as to who should be on what ballot – even before all of the votes have been fully counted. This does not improve Alaskans’ faith in our political process, nor is it productive. The focus should be about the challenges Alaska families face right now.
“Mr. Miller ran a very negative campaign that disrespected Senator Murkowski and Alaska. Alaskans don’t want negative politics in campaigns or in Washington. I didn’t get in this race to run against any individual, but to stand up for Alaskans at a time of great uncertainty in our country. I can do that as an independent voice in the U.S. Senate working to represent all of Alaska.”
I very much like Scott McAdams’ quote. If only we had more like him, there and everywhere.
Can we clone McAdams and send him all over the country? I don’t know much about him, and as I’m not an Alaskan, I can’t vote for him. But that is the tone I would like to hear from those running for office, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.
Even if you’re out of state you can still donate. He’ll be one out of one hundred people making decisions for all of us. Ask yourself… Miller or McAdams? http://www.scottmcadams.org
I so love a gentleman.
A guy that rises above the fray and continues to move forward is very nice to view.
It has been a joy to read and hear Scott’s ideas/thoughts/desires for our great state.
Wow, finally. An adult in the room.
Go, Scott McAdams!
Can Murkowski run as an Independent or does she have to have a party behind her?
If Alaska state law allows it, she might be able to use Joe Lieberman as an example…he lost the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont in 2006, and shortly thereafter the Connecticut for Lieberman party was formed. He went on to win the general election, much to the dismay of many Democrats.
It is too late for her to get on the ballot as an independent. She could be a write in candidate. Or she could switch to the Democratic party and replace Scott, if the D’s agreed. I doubt that would happen.
There is no doubt about that. McAdams won’t relinquish to anyone – he was the only one with guts enough to run against Lisa. No one else (several qualified) was willing to take the risk of running against her.
Doesn’t that just make you wonder why it was so easy for Miller, a virtual unknown, to beat her? What the heck happened?
“What happened” is the Teabaggers drummed up the never-before-bothered-to-vote folks. Like lambs to slaughter, they’re so uninformed that they will fall for a bunch of redneck “us versus them” rhetoric, no matter that the anti-government platform will ultimately hurt them probably more than anyone.
That, and the fact that the anti-abortion folks (aided by none other than Mayor Dan Sullivan’s “Party-girl”, err… I mean, “Party Planner”, Bernadette Wilson), put an anti-abortion initiative petition on the primary ballot. That way they could entice all the right-wing crazies to come out of the woodwork and throw the vote.
@ Doodlebug
I feel that I know exactly what happened, and I wrote my take on that situation in the Murkowski / Miller Ballot Count Today” thread. Either way, he’ll try to launch himself much like Palin did.
I believe she either has to be the candidate of a party that contested the primary, or run as a write-in candidate.
She could be a write-in candidate. It’s possible she will endorse Miller if he wins the ballot count, even though he lied about her and was dirty. I know Miller will not endorse her if she wins the count. He will probably pull an all out campaign to be a write-in candidate. I’ll betcha.
Yes! A reminder to all- our 100 Senators impact all of us. I donate to Senators from other states. Please donate to McAdams! It is important to realize that the make up of the senate as a whole is what matters- not where the individual Senator comes from. Make yourselves familiar with all the good ones and support them all.
Do we have a burgeoning Alaskan statesman here? I think so!
An adult in the room in Alaskan politics! I am impressed with McAdams!
I love the widdle fly. McAdams would be great for Alaska, you need him bad.
Such a cute, dedicated, grimy lil’ slob of a fly! I love this picture.
McAdams is an adult and professional in tone and demeanor. Alaskans are lucky to have someone such as McAdams who wants to serve them.
Wish he were running for Senate in Kansas. Our Democratic candidate is almost incognito. Very few people even know there is a Democrat running here, and the rest don’t know his name. I hope McAdams keeps building name recognition in the next month.
I am concerned that he might not point out the short-sighted policies of the Republicans and Libertarians – policies that will actually devastate a large portion of your citizens if they are implemented. Alaska is on the verge of losing so much money if Miller gets elected can effect the change he wants that the state charities had better start mapping out contingency plans to care for thousands of disabled, elderly and poor. You will lose tourist money as people stay away from a state willing to ruin its environment for corporate gain.
Go McAdams!
Why would the Libertarians want a representative that didn’t actually represent them? Assuming that they do believe in the things they say they believe in
Looks like Murkowski isn’t faring so well in today’s vote count. She’s only gained about 400 or so votes out of around 13,000 that have been counted so far. There are about 3000 left to count today. If I was the betting type I would put my money on Miller pulling this off, which is obv. great news for McAdams.