Print this page
RSS Feed (xml)
The fight is between Sarah Palin (pictured), the former Alaska governor and Tea Party heroine, and Lisa Murkowski, a longtime rival whose family has been a fixture of Republican politics in the state for three decades.
WASHINGTON — Is it really Sarah Palin's Alaska? Senator Lisa Murkowski doesn't think so.
In the substantial wake of this week's U.S. midterm elections, the hottest political feud to explode does not involve President Barack Obama and Republicans leaders in Congress.
The fight is between Palin, the former Alaska governor and Tea Party heroine, and Murkowski, a longtime rival whose family has been a fixture of Republican politics in the state for three decades.
Just two months after she lost the GOP Senate primary in a Palin-backed coup, Murkowski is on the cusp of winning re-election in Alaska as an independent write-in candidate.
A Murkowski victory would be a bitter pill to swallow for Palin, who endorsed the incumbent senator's Tea Party rival, Joe Miller, for the Republican nomination last August.
With all precincts reporting in Alaska, results from Tuesday's general election show 41 per cent of Alaskan voters cast write-in ballots while Miller received just 34 per cent support. The write-in ballots still need to be opened to confirm the votes are for Murkowski — a process that will begin Nov. 10.
The last write-in candidate to win a seat in the U.S. Senate was South Carolina's Strom Thurmond, in 1954.
While the Alaska vote count may be drawn out and subject to legal challenges, Murkowski has already expressed confidence she has won. And she has wasted no time in adopting a revenge-is-sweet attitude toward Palin, who is weighing a 2012 presidential campaign.
In an interview Thursday with NBC's Today Show, Murkowski said Palin did not have either the life or governing skills required to serve in the White House.
"As a presidential nominee, as a candidate, I'm looking for somebody that has a breadth of experience, not only within government, but just truly more a worldly approach," Murkowski said. "And I don't think that Sarah Palin has that."
Palin was not about to let Murkowski's remarks slide. She accused the incumbent of being a "sore loser" by refusing to stand down after losing the Republican primary to Miller.
"That is kind of her mode of operation is flip-flopping around," Palin told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night.
More than just a tempest in a Tea Party, the Palin-Murkowski feud has a long, bitter history.
Palin earned Murkowski's lasting ire when she ended the political career of Lisa's father, incumbent Alaska governor Frank Murkowski, by defeating him from Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2006.
Palin famously criticized Frank Murkowski for his decision to spend $2.7 million of state money to buy a Westwind II jet, which she later posted for sale on eBay.
Palin says Lisa Murkowski owes her own political career not to hard work but to nepotism.
When Frank Murkowski left the U.S. Senate in 2002 to become Alaska's governor, he appointed his daughter to fill the seat he had held in Washington since 1981. Lisa Murkowski was subsequently elected to the Senate on her own in 2004.
"See, Lisa Murkowski is part of a 30-year Murkowski dynasty up there. Her dad gave her the seat as U.S. senator," Palin says. "Lisa was given that seat some years ago and has really felt entitled to that."
Palin accuses Murkowski of turning her back on conservatives by accepting support from Democrats, union bosses and Alaskan "special interests" in order to get re-elected.
"(Murkowski) decided that she would go around the will of the people and try a different tactic to get in there," she said. "It's obvious that the special interests who rely on federal funding solely to survive — they are going to look for her to feed their trough."
Murkowski, for her part, said on election night that Alaskans had rejected unseemly tactics by Palin and Tea Party activists from outside the state.
"I think here in Alaska tonight, people are more focused on Lisa Murkowski than Sarah Palin," she said. "This is our state. We will make the decisions here. We will elect our senator and Alaskans are doing just that."
The Alaska political drama, if nothing else, seems certain to give a boost of publicity to Palin as she prepares for the Nov. 14 debut of a cable TV reality series. Sarah Palin's Alaska will chronicle her life adventures in the Last Frontier.
"The scene we would really want to see is Palin out in the tundra with Lisa Murkowski, duking it out over the last sled dog," Emily Bazelon writes in Slate magazine. "These women have a classic, bitter, transcending rivalry. This isn't a cat fight: It's entrenched warfare — the kind of fight we're used to seeing between men."
Murkowski's success in bettering a Palin-backed Republican has raised inevitable questions about the extent of the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate's power.
Voters "rejected Sarah Palin's picked person in Alaska," Mark Begich, the state's Democratic senator, told the Anchorage Daily News. "It says a lot that Alaskans have now rejected her style of politics, too."
Of the 77 candidates Palin endorsed in the mid-terms, 49 won their elections Tuesday — giving the former governor a winning record on a big night for Republicans. It's the prospect of a loss in Alaska, however, that may disappoint Palin the most.
When Frank Murkowski left the U.S. Senate in 2002 to become Alaska's governor, he appointed his daughter to fill the seat he had held in Washington since 1981. Lisa Murkowski was subsequently elected to the Senate on her own in 2004.
"See, Lisa Murkowski is part of a 30-year Murkowski dynasty up there. Her dad gave her the seat as U.S. senator," Palin says. "Lisa was given that seat some years ago and has really felt entitled to that."
Palin accuses Murkowski of turning her back on conservatives by accepting support from Democrats, union bosses and Alaskan "special interests" in order to get re-elected.
"(Murkowski) decided that she would go around the will of the people and try a different tactic to get in there," she said. "It's obvious that the special interests who rely on federal funding solely to survive — they are going to look for her to feed their trough."
Murkowski, for her part, said on election night that Alaskans had rejected unseemly tactics by Palin and Tea Party activists from outside the state.
"I think here in Alaska tonight, people are more focused on Lisa Murkowski than Sarah Palin," she said. "This is our state. We will make the decisions here. We will elect our senator and Alaskans are doing just that."
The Alaska political drama, if nothing else, seems certain to give a boost of publicity to Palin as she prepares for the Nov. 14 debut of a cable TV reality series. Sarah Palin's Alaska will chronicle her life adventures in the Last Frontier.
"The scene we would really want to see is Palin out in the tundra with Lisa Murkowski, duking it out over the last sled dog," Emily Bazelon writes in Slate magazine. "These women have a classic, bitter, transcending rivalry. This isn't a cat fight: It's entrenched warfare — the kind of fight we're used to seeing between men."
Murkowski's success in bettering a Palin-backed Republican has raised inevitable questions about the extent of the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate's power.
Voters "rejected Sarah Palin's picked person in Alaska," Mark Begich, the state's Democratic senator, told the Anchorage Daily News. "It says a lot that Alaskans have now rejected her style of politics, too."
Of the 77 candidates Palin endorsed in the mid-terms, 49 won their elections Tuesday — giving the former governor a winning record on a big night for Republicans. It's the prospect of a loss in Alaska, however, that may disappoint Palin the most.
0 comments:
Post a Comment