Lisa Murkowski Concedes Senate Race to Joe Miller. (UPDATED)
Lisa Murkowski (R) has conceded the Senate primary to Joe Miller (T) before all votes are counted.
In a brief 2 minute emotional statement, she told Alaskans that she’ll be out of the race officially. She did not take questions.
“It’s been a long week. a terribly long week while we have counted and speculated. It’s been difficult on all sides. We still have outstanding votes to count, but based on where we are, I don’t see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor and that is a reality that is before me at this point in time.”
“So for the good of the state of the Alaska, I am conceding. I shared that with Mr. Miller a few moments ago.”
She then thanked Alaskans for their support and encouragement.
“Together we have accomplished so much for the state we love and we’ve done it together. Your support sustains me and gives me hope for our collective future. I’m so proud of our campaign. It was honest, upright and energetic. It was what a campaign in Alaska should be. (thunderous applause). We stayed on the high road. We talked about how we moved the state of Alaska forward.”
“You (volunteers) gave the state of Alaska 100%.”
“This is not a race about Lisa Murkowski.”
“You know that my heart and my soul has always been with Alaska. I am looking forward to coming back home with my family and building a great future, not only with my family but helping to fulfill Alaska’s promise. I will remain dedicated to serving our state. You can count on that. This state is so full of opportunity. I am very excited to explore what the future can hold.”
So we’ve got a race, folks. McAdams vs. McWingnut Miller.
Will Alaskans be willing to vote against their best interest and shun the federal dollars that built our state? Will Alaskans reject Medicare? Social Security? Infrastructure? Renewable energy? Sanity?
Stay tuned, kids.
UPDATE:
– Alaska’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, Mayor Scott McAdams, issued the following statement this evening following the concession by Senator Lisa Murkowski in her Republican primary election:
“Lisa Murkowski served Alaska as a state legislator and United States Senator with energy and enthusiasm. We agree on the great majority of Alaskan issues. Lisa Murkowski is a class act who always put Alaska first.
“By contrast, lawyer Joe Miller ran an unfair, nasty campaign that didn’t extend to Lisa Murkowski the respect she deserves. Over the next two months, Alaskans will clearly see the difference between Mr. Miller and me, and it starts with basic decency.”
Will I’ll be doggone… another quitter!
WTF?
is she going to support miller?
Will she throw her support to Miller and what are the poll number for Miller vs. McAdams? This is a very interesting situation.
Miller up by only 8 points after 1/2 million dollars spent. We have a winnable race, folks. Time to pony up and donate to Scott McAdams. NObody in the country wants Miller in the Senate. http://www.scottmcadams.org
except the Koches and their ilk.
I hope your McAdams wins, but with the track record, I worry.
I think that is the truly interesting thing about the race we now have before us. Neither candidate has what you would call a truly established track record, but I think McAdams has the advantage here as at least he has held an elected office. (Plus he’s not crazy, but I digress).
That was a reference about voting for $P. And being duped by her. And letting her get away with all kinds of BS. And somehow getting away with it from the PR side. Regardless of the facts.
Ah, I see what you meant now, thanks for the clarification. (And yeah, I do worry about that too).
Who was the woman in the fabulous hat standing to Sen. Murkowski’s left?
Margy Johnson, former mayor of Cordova. AKM
I’d love to know that too. Quite unexpected hat somehow!
I guess I’ve been in Alaska too long. I kept looking at that hat, and all I could think was “automobile air filter”. Lol!
Come on, you’ve been reading Vogue on those long summer nights.
And how many zebras died to make that outfit?
what picture??? Inquiring minds want to know!
Damn
In the most loving way, can I say AK is stranger than Nebraska. Who knew?
wow~ wow~shocked here!!
I’m listening to Shannyn on KO, talking up McAdams.
What the heck? She QUIT before all the votes were counted? (A) She had another gig lined up (or another plan of attack for November), (B) Fox News called, or (C) well, just can’t think of another reason why someone would concede before the votes were in.
But don’t they have to finish the whole count. What happens now if she pulls it off?
a concession is not legally binding.
My guess is that going by the numbers so far, she would have to beat incredible odds mathematically speaking to win at this point. But who knows, really.
the Koch brothers waved some $$$ under her nose?
Does this become another NY 23? It’s time for AK to get to know Scott.
If the votes still to be counted are fewer than you need to win, its time to graciously concede. It appears that may be the case here. Please Alaska, get some sense in your heads and vote for McAdams. Miller will be a disaster for all of us.
So from a Democratic perspective is this good or bad? ie: Are independents more likely to not vote for Miller?
SKinMN: First off, this is definitely a good thing from a Democratic perspective. With all due respect, Mr. McAdams would have had no chance against an established Republican like Lisa. I know Joe was in a similar underdog situation, but at least he was Republican.
Second, I think the situation with the Independents up here is that they are really unpredictable and I honestly think they could go either way depending on how Joe and Sam run their campaigns. I will say this, however. I truly think that a huge reason Miller won is because we had a ballot initiative that sought to make it illegal for tennage girls to have abortions without their parents permission. Naturally this brought out the Conservative & Tea Partiers in droves.
I think this favors McAdams because there will be no ballot initiatives in the November election to bring out the ‘values’ voters.
Just food for though. Hope I provided some useful insight.
Oh, and please pardon my typos.. it’s been an an exciting day up here.
What the ??? no final vote tally? no recount? Is there some backroom dealing going on in the Republican house… ie, they can’t afford to have an investigation/scrutiny of the election process of their own party ?? …
Could be she doesn’t want to keep taking the cheap shots from Miller. This should stop the vitriol toward her, so if she does take the lead later, well.
If not, does she endorse Miller? Does she just stay silent? Does she endorse McAdams? Could she endorse McAdams?
Gotta go pop some corn.
If I was Lisa after what Miller suggested about her I sure would not throw my support behind him.If she has any guts left she will throw herself and her supporters behind Scott just because palin took a pot shot at her.Party be dammed.I think if she pushed it Scott could win.Does any one want some one from Todds aip group in congress. JMO
jeez…if I was an Alaskan who voted absentee, I’d be really ticked off right now. So much for “every vote counts” mantra.
Yes, I’m in that group. Not happy.
Being aware of the Alaskan electorate’s predictable tendency to shoot itself in its big Red foot, I did the virtually unthinkable and voted for Lisa, to avoid the possibility of getting stuck with this nonsense candidate. And truly, filling in that little circle next to her name was political agony. But this guy’s a loose cannon ready to take pot shots at the constitution. He has no constituency to answer to but the Tea Party Express, as he has spent no time building any here.
Miller is yet another shadow candidate appearing unknown, unbidden, and unwelcome, to darken our political lives. He lives in my town, has never held elected office, and most people even in Fbks didn’t know him before this race. Which is of course balanced out by how little he knows of our state, really. (Mr. Astroturf Alaska. He should get to wear a special sash and crown with that on it. FlyInYourEye could design it for him.)
I guess, at least this way, I’ll be able to vote against him twice. This is going to be one ugly election. Even if Miller does wear that pretty little sash. Which he will, at least in my mind’s eye.
Jimmy Carter conceded his second presidential race before the polls in California closed. It’s not unprecedented. We were really pissed that time, too.
I don’t think every vote counts in any of the republican primaries.because they don’t shar the votes it is winner take all even if it is fifty fifty.Does not seem right to me and i think that is the only reason McCain got as far as he did.
I hope if the race between Miller and McAdams is close in November that McAdams doesn’t throw in the towel before every vote is counted because it is an insult to everyone who works on a campaign to have a candidate do that. I wonder if they concede early to appear gracious. Who cares about gracious – be adult and courteous, sure, but stay in until the bitter end because things could change, challenges can be brought.
Candidates try to save their own image when what they should be thinking about is the people they represent. They should fight to ensure things are done well and fairly for the sake of the people who voted for them, not for themselves. A political race should ideally be about the people who vote, what they need, what they want, how dedicated they are.
To just quit like this left a bitter taste when Gore did it, when Kerry did it and now even when Murkowski does it. She talks about being there for the Alaskan people, well, she should be there until every last vote is counted and challenge any vote that is suspicious or any reasonable irregularities. I want a politician who acts reasonably and professionally but he or she should fight for me if I vote for them. They have asked for my vote, and if I think them worth it, I will send my hard-earned money and work for their campaign. They honor that only by ensuring that every single vote has been well and truly counted before graciously bowing out if they lose.
Hope for McAdams is now resurgent.
What will Lisa do with her $2m campaign war chest? My guess is that she’ll either save it for the War On Begich in 2014, or she will start an Alaska-based political group, use that vehicle to move the money in-state, and then run for Governor in 2014.
Running as in Indy this November to keep her Senate seat just isn’t viable. Stickers on a ballot are not allowed in our state and I can’t imagine the kind of literacy campaign she’d have to fund in order for voters to spell ‘Murkowski’.
Would ‘Murky’ suffice?
Truly mind blowing. I know that I was predicting that Miller would eventually come out on top, but not before all the votes were counted and a lengthy recount and/or legal battle.
I’m glad this chapter is over though. Let the real battle begin! (And what a battle this will be).
*Cue rocky motivational theme music*
I am a republican and voted for Lisa. For the first time in my life I will be supporting and voting for a democrat governor and senator.
There is no way in hell that I would EVER support anyone that Palin supported.
So, with that said LET THE GAMES BEGIN! I don’t think I have enough popcorn!
Welcome! It sounds like you’ve got some good Dems to vote for this time around. We’ve got a big tent now and look forward to your ideas.
Time to endorse the Democrat, Lisa.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with conceding an election. It does not mean that the rest of the votes are not counted but at some point a candidate has to accept reality. Candidates often do not wait for all of the votes to be counted, we are only noticing because it is such a close & surprising upset.
On a lighter note, Miller still has worse facial hair than McAdams.
No. I am so disappointed. I’ve been watching all day. I thought sure she had a chance with the absentees. Gosh. Sigh. Now what?
I mean I voted/contributed to McAdams but I was hoping Murk would split the vote as an independent. Plus I didn’t want her to give up to that Mill-$P Carpetbagger.
Seven posts today! Is this a new record?
Sorry folks, but she is a class act. We may not like her politics sometimes, but she has what her opponent definitely lacks, decorum, grace under pressure and class.
This is what politics should be, your policies may differ, but you treat people with respect.
We need to defeat Joe Miller NOW.
I agree that she is indeed a class act. I also did not always agree with her & there was a time when I emailed her disagreeing with one of her votes and she sent me back a nice letter in the mail (very quickly I might add), explaining her stance and the reasons for her vote. I respect the fact that she worked hard for Alaska and to the people who complain about her voting along party lines, all I can say is what do you expect? She is a Republican – of course she was going to vote with her party more often than not.
After watching her voting record over the past years, branding Lisa Murkowski as a ‘class act’ is REALLY stretching things.
Electing Joe Miller is the Christian version of electing the Taliban.
There is only 33000 Dem/indie/Lib votes to the Repugs 104000 votes in the primary.
How do you turn this around?
I guess it’s easy to stay home when the primary outcome looks preordained.
Hope that the Republicans who voted for Murkowski will feel the insult aimed at their candidate by Miller and vote McAdams. IMO Miller was truly vile to Murkowski by implying that she was a ho.
Or hope that enough Republican voters realize how truly crazy and scary Miller is and give McAdams the vote. Otherwise, Alaska will be represented for 6 years in Washington by a vile idiot who will do more damage than good.
BTW, is McAdams part Irish?
Hopefully, the terrifying prospect of Miller in the Senate will convince Democrats who stayed home to get their widdle tushies to the voting booth in November. And if Miller keeps making statements about eliminating Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and all sorts of other social programs, maybe enough people in the other parties will be scared enough to vote for McAdams.
Keeping my fingers crossed…
Rest assured the Koch brothers are toasting their newest hired boy tonight.
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Lisa donated her campaign money to McAdam’s campaign? Can she do that, or does it have to go to a Repubilican candidate?
hehe
Tricky bastards, getting those conservatives to say all those stupid things.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/08/31/maybe-they-should-dress-up-as-pimps/
Good luck Alaskans! I do hope you vote in McAdams. You all sure do know how to make things exciting and nail-biting crazy
So has Miller ever belonged to AIP?
http://alaskadispatch.com/blogs/political-animal/5963-shunning-the-aip-still-in-fashion
He sure sounds like an AIP’er.
So has Miller ever belonged to AIP?
http://alaskadispatch.com/blogs/political-animal/5963-shunning-the-aip-still-in-fashion
He sure sounds like an AIP’er.
He sure does Fan in Ca. This post really shows how close his ideas are to the AIP’s.
http://palinquestions.blogspot.com/2010/08/joe-miller-alaskan-secessionist.html
Classy concession speech by Lisa.
Time to take a good hard look at McAdams and Miller.
One will serve Alaska well for the next six years. That one would be Scott McAdams.
http://scottmcadams.org
As an Oregonian, please tell me that Alaskans are not all nuts! No medicare, no social security, no unemployment, no govt. protections for the environment, no food safety, no Wall St. regulation? Are you all nuts??
Not all Nuts, a lot here, though, and we sure can vote for them.
Axiom, for someone looking for a husband in Alaska: “the odds are good but the Goods are Odd.”
I have to say that her concession speech was very classy, but I think she should have saved it till all the votes were counted and showed that she indeed lost. If it’s a close vote, does Alaska have a mandatory recount like Washington state? No point in conceding if there is going to be a recount. Or maybe it will turn out that the final tally wasn’t close enough for that. Still – she should have waited.
I really do hope that Alaskan voters aren’t blinded by all the money that will be coming Miller’s way. He’s been such a rude hateful candidate that I think he should lose to anyone running against him.
Just had an interesting phone call from a company whose ID showed on my phone as Opinion Poll calling from (702)430-6711. The caller asked how I felt about McAdams and several other questions, but then asked how I would vote if Fran Ulmer were to run against Joe Miller. Apparently, someone is considering a move to replace McAdams with Ulmer. Although I would certainly vote for Fran Ulmer and would love to see her representing Alaska in Congress, I think that a move to replace McAdams at this point would unnecessarily set many Democrat’s teeth on edge. Ain’t Alaska politics great??
The only reason I know you’re not making this up, wasillalefty, is because it’s AleeaaaaAsskuh.
That is very interesting. I think Ulmer would certainly stand a much better chance against Miller. I admit that I do not know enough about McAdams as I would like, but his website does not really have that much specific information. It does not have much specific information on the issues. It also does seem that there is not a lot of confidence in him from the party itself with the talk of Knowles & now hints that maybe Ulmer might replace him.
At this point, the Democratic party in AK needs to support the best possible candidate and that means someone who has a real chance at winning. I have been a Democrat in this state for a long time and so often our approach seems to involve a lot of wishful thinking. Time for a dose of reality.
Same calls here asking about Tony Knowles. These were rumors right off the bat, just the same as the Hillary for replacing Biden rumors during the presidential election. McAdams isn’t going to give up that seat – no way, no how.
Hmmm. I like the idea of Fran Ulmer running, but I also think Scott McAdams is a great candidate. But yeah I’m sure the Repubs are going to do everything they can to discredit McAdams, including false whisper campaigns to try and divide AK Democrats with rumors of [insert prominent AK democrat] running in place of Adams.
The bottom line is we need to get behind a candidate now, the clock’s ticking. If the AK Democratic party is going to switch candidates, they better do it fast because if they act too late it will be the death knell of our chances. Personally I think it’s too late for a candidate switch, but I do worry that McAdams doesn’t have enough name recognition.
Sounds like a trick by the teabaggers to throw doubt and uncertainty on McAdams.
Bingo! And from the track record of some of the shennanigan-pullers, not out of the realm of possibility…by a long shot. beth.
Seems like the last time this was tried, was the governor’s race in 2006, when Ethan Berkowitz was doing well ahead of the primary but the establishment thought he couldn’t swing the general, and Tony Knowles came on the ballot against Sarah and Halcro.
That election didn’t turn out too well.
Although I have great admiration for Fran, in this scenario she would be the establishment candidate in an anti-establishment year. We might have a more even field with McAdams, because there would be two relatively unknown candidates taking each other on, thus neutralizing that factor.
I think you’ve said it best. If the party switches candidates, I want my $100 back and you can take me off the volunteer list. No one wanted to stand up to Lisa, but now that she’s out the way people are lining up. BS. Scott stepped up when no one else would, let him finish the job.
Wassillalefty, Rick Rydell, the defender of the corrupt, started that rumor on day one. The republicans started the rumor because they’re scared. Rydell and Oil Can Dan Fagan were praising Ralph Samuels from day one, touting his leadership skills over Parnells. Rydell even said he doesn’t need to run for governor of Alaska (to save us poor unfortunates) now that Samuels is in. Then…..all of a sudden….both Oil Can and Rydell pushed ol’ Ralphie under their Palin bus and turned toward the Tea Bagger.. Why? Just follow the money. Koch’s money. Rydell even called for more money from them on his show. Two sell outs.
If they did replace Scott McAdams with either Ulmer or Knowles, I would campaign for the tea baggers over those idiots. Look what they both did on subsistence in Alaska. They voted for the Non-Subsistence Use Act to become law, thus creating criminals out of Alaska Natives who want to participate in cultural/subsistence related activities.
Mud 101: This poll was commissioned by Rs.
McAdams for Senate.
She will go as a write-in.
Bad move, bad move… you’ll split the vote and end up with Miller….Why, oh WHY do Demo’s ALWAYS find a way to screw themselves ???
Did you notice that Lisa didn’t encourage her supporters, in the interests of party unity, to support Joe Miller? Wouldn’t it be the ultimate slap to the ‘cuda if Lisa threw her support behind Scott McAdams? Oh, my God, I would LOVE that.
Good grief – I think this will be as engaging as the presidential election – at least for some of us. Here we go again……. ayyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyy………..Buckle up and pull on the boots.
Just read Joe Miller’s full statement about his GOP nomination. It’s weird reading because many sentences have grammatical type errors and other just poor writing mistakes. I mean, I hate to be picky, since his grammar is still far better than his integrity and cult philosophy, but how the heck does someone graduate from Yale without being able to write simple sentences?
simple… military academy = congressional recommendation = doesn’t have to be educated to get the recommendation
Maybe their law school had an affirmative action admissions program that year for the “Constitution-optional” folks. Seeing as they are sadly underrepresented in the legal profession and all.
LOL! But please, let’s not talk about those who are NOT underrepresented in the legal profession…
All Scott McAdams has to say is Joe Miller wants to fire a third of the state of Alaska.
Thanks for a great website.
There ya go!
I just got a robo-poll call from Rasmussen Reports, asking all sorts of questions about how liberal/conservative I thought each of the candidates were, and how much I approved of the performance of the president and various current AK candidates and politicians. They also wanted to know how much money I make, my marital status, and how many children I have.
I started out answering the questions (via touch-tone responses) but felt worse and worse about this whole thing as it proceeded.
For some reason I initially thought that this call was related to the Rasmuson Foundation: http://www.rasmuson.org/
But it was really conducted by this org:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/
Beware, if you are in Alaska and receive these calls.
I think Lisa has something up her sleeve. I sure hope so, anyway. I also think it’s now time for all GOP’s to get behind McAdams, if Lisa is out. If she’s in, she’ll split the votes and give Miller the loss. It’s all good.
You know, there is one kind of RINO, in the culture war, and there is another kind of RINO, on federal funding for Alaska. From the business perspective, Joe Miller is the worst kind of RINO, ready to deny federal funding. The largely Republican Alaska business and nonprofit community will not put up with it. It is hard to imagine corporate donations, especially construction contractor donations, going to support Joe Miller’s campaign. After Millers’ statements about not chasing federal funding, I’d say he is dead meat in the Alaska business community. The University of Alaska system is, per faculty, one of the largest consumers of National Science Foundation funding in the United States. The UA system will not support Miller. The Rasmuson Foundation derives its political power from providing the all-valuable non-federal match for federal grants. They aren’t going to give up shaping Alaska to the likes of Joe Miller. Alaska’s towns and villages depend on federal funding for everything. The mayors and boroughs are not going to support Miller. Scott McAdams has an opportunity, a golden opportunity.
Hmmm…..Sen. Murkowski didn’t “pull a Norm Coleman?”
Hope Joe Miller appreciates the difference. Naw. Too stupid and vindictive — just like Palin.
From all I’ve read and heard about (and from) LumberJoe Miller, McAdam’s campaign could already be done writing itself…all McAdams has to do is run ads with citizens doing ordinary, citizenly things, and state, plainly and clearly, he’s dedicated to keeping ___ [insert one: medicaid/medicare; social security; regulations for clean air, food, water, etc.; airline/transportation safety; education standards; promoting (and protecting) AKs resources, peoples, etc. ] ___ for them. Just say what he’s going to ‘keep’, and *why* he’s going to work to keep it [AKA, why it's important that it be kept!].
Nothing mean, nothing mud-slingy, no sleeze; just a series of high-road, educational, senatorial-miened, ads. By taking all the things LumberJoe has already said he wants to eliminate and/or drastically restrict/reduce, McAdams can gently educate/inform and *remind* the populace about *why* these things are necessary.
Keeping classy, McAdams can whap LumberJoe so hard, he’ll never know what hit him…and all without even mentioning LumberJoe’s name or the whacky ‘ideas’ he has. McAdams does need to educate the voters, though, not so much about who *he* -McAdams- is, but on what he is going to DC to do — when folks see the contrast between what LumberJoe wants to pull down and what McAdams (and any *sane* person) *knows* must Not be screwed around with, they’ll see McAdams is the only sensible choice. He’ll get some of the much-needed name recognition he has to have to get the votes, just by speaking to the sensibility of the voters…and, in the process, make LumberJoe’s “conservative”/T-baggery notions look like the loonytune idiocy they are. Win-win, to my mind. beth.
WHO IS THAT “GREASY” LOOKING GUY IN THE BACKGROUND?
SARAH’S TYPE!! WHERE IS HIS WIG??
I just wrote a bunch of stuff but it hit me that what I wanted to say is that I think, for the most part, both Democrats and Republicans in Alaska, stand for things I don’t like or agree with. I moved here because of the Alaskan wilderness. One of the things I swore before I came up was that I would NEVER do any work for any enterprise involved in resource extraction; that has not made for an easy life. Yet, I’m told that I’m better off voting for a Democrat who might want to rip up our state than a Republican. There may be some truth in this – but I am forced into being a hypocrite if I vote for either of the those two parties. Politics up here now, is in many ways a joke.
This is nothing new to folks who have been here a while. Don’t forget Wally’s run as an independent.
Remember that Sheffield was Governor, and was a “Democrat?”
Remember carpet bagger Steve Cowper? He rolled in to town and became Gov, and just as quickly rolled out of town after his term.
Heck, Lindauer ran for Governor, and I don’t even think he was a resident. He was living in Chicago.
McAdams will have a tough battle against the Tea Bag money machine, but I think he has a shot. It’s time to really send a message and put two “D’s” from Alaska in the Senate. No more carpet baggers.
True enough. But as you have pointed out, D or R or I doesn’t seem to make much difference when it comes to the way folks vote up here. Even worse is what most of those you mention have done to our state and the REAL interests of its citizens. I’d bet good money that we are about to get short shrift again. But then Obama has turned out to be a big disappointment when his actions are compared to the words he spoke as a candidate. So should we just roll over and say, well this is all we can expect?
In Alaska you cannot be too idealistic or you will be disappointed. Believe me, I have been there many times. That is why although I did not always agree with Murkowski or with Prez. Obama for that matter, I give them both a lot of credit. Politicians often have to act pragmatically and often have to make compromises.
In this current political environment, there are too many people who will not support a candidate because they don’t agree with everything they do 100% of the time. This is how we get stuck with extremists on both sides, extremists who refuse to compromise and this is how nothing gets done.
So, CityKid, does that mean you miss Little w…? What with you talking about disappointments and all.
In Alaska you cannot be too idealistic or you will be disappointed.
Sorry, but I have to strongly disagree. Alaska was seized from its native population by folks with ideals. Seriously, do you think the Koch brothers don’t have ideals, or Joe Miller, or McAdams. Seems to me that many of “us” are drinking the kool-aide. Alaska has, over its history been raped by many special interests from the lower 48 often with willing participants right here at home (I used to visit, but for almost a decade have lived here). I’m tired of getting fleeced with calls for me to take a “practical” political stand. Look at all the BS the Dems and Republicans heaped on Nader, to mention one example. By keeping Nader out of the battle, and the debates, they both were protecting themselves and their benefactors from the citizenry. Begich, Murkowski, Miller, and I fear McAdams will be no different. Who they will be representing will not be us, but rather the folks who seek to line their pockets, using money to buy political clout and hoodwink the public. If we adopt your aproach, especially now, we will just get more of the same and they’ll be digging Pebble, plowing new strip mines for coal, and digging their bits into ANWAR and the Beaufort Sea in the name of “compromise.” What’s that George Carlin line about believing in “The American Dream?” Because to believe it, you’ve got to be asleep.
It’s funny that you mention Nader because my husband voted for him in the 2008 election – I voted for Obama.
Ok, so accepting your approach – who do you support? Are you going to find a candidate in Alaska who is not going to support oil drilling in ANWR? I chose that as an example because I am against drilling in ANWR yet I have voted for many Democrats who supported it. That is what I meant about compromise. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sell your soul to the devil but politics is a dirty business. There will always be back room deals and compromise voting.
My definition of politics:
Politics is the allocation of scarce commodities and resources.
It’s really very simple. It’s often depressing when I reach the point of understanding about who is getting what and why.
g’nite.
I think in the end we are in agreement as depressing as it is and believe me I am very depressed today about the future of our state. I responded to you above but I think you already signed off. Here’s to a better tomorrow.
I was so demoralized last night when I read this (had six replies at hat time) I couldn’t even write. I am not Alaskan but my first thought was “what about all those absentee ballots that weren’t counted? Don’t those people’s votes count too?”
Mr. Terps was sure she wouldn’t have conceded unless she saw no way she could win, although at my last check she was narrowing the lead and there were plenty left to count.
I’m wondering if my demoralization is more about the vote-counting process, the negative campaign Murk’s competitor ran which made it so close, or the unbearable thought of SP gloating.
BTW, first thing Mr. Terps said when he saw a picture of Miller was (something like) “Dude: either have a beard or don’t”.
(This from a man with facial hair).
It’s probably statistically highly unlikely, but if you thought Congress was dysfunctional now, just imagine it with new junior senators Miller, Paul, and Angle (and one or two others I might be forgetting).
I agree some new blood is needed. But I’d prefer it more like Grayson and Franken than Boener and Bachmann.
Based upon the update, it does not seem that Murkowski is going to throw her support behind Miller.
I think that after essentially calling Lisa the W word, it’s safe to say there will be no such endorsement for Miller, although you can be sure he will be wining and dining her from here on out for her support.
Watching from afar,
it seems Alaska’s gone off
the deep end. Oh my.
http://www.thehaikudiaries.wordpress.com
I hope Lisa does the right thing for Alaska and for the country and supports McAdams.
Somehow I think Alaskans are kicking themselves right about now. OMG Palin, Angle, Miller, Brewer…they make my GOP governor look positively competent. (I’m in TX)
Huffington Post says Glenn Beck is coming to Anchorage September 11, where he and Palin are going to each make a speech at the Dena’ina convention center. Beck rented the center back in June 2010, won’t say what the speeches are about. Anyone up there know what’s going on? I’ve tried to connect some dots but nothing makes much sense other than they are going to announce something big they are trying to keep secret until 9/11. Here are all the unconnected dots
June 2010 Beck rents Dena’ina Center and tickets go on sale for the (unnamed)event.
June 6 or there about Palin endorses Joe Miller for Senator
June 16 The Tea Party Express funded by Koch gives an unprecedented $500,000 to Miller
August 30 I looks like Miller has won election
August 31 Murkowski concedes election to Miller
August 31 Iowa Ronald Reagan fund raising dinner announces that Sarah will be the spotlight speaker
September 2 Huffington Post says Beck is going to AK to give joint speech with Palin
September 11 Joint Beck Palin event at the Dena’ina Center
September 17 Palin headline speaker at Iowa Ronald Reagan fund raiser dinner
Miller and Koch figure into this but I don’t know how. Anyone got ideas?