Another member of the Alaska Republican establishment falls victim to the reforming zeal of Sarah Palin: Incumbent Lisa Murkowski has conceded to challenger Joe Miller in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Speaking to reporters at her campaign headquarters in Anchorage, Murkowski said “based on where we are right now, I don’t see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor.”
The concession come after a day of counting absentee ballots in which Murkowski gained little ground on Miller, the Fairbanks attorney backed by former Gov. Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express.
There will be another Republican committed to cutting the federal budget and repealing Obamacare in the 112th Senate.
After Miller seeming like a guy we should want, and Murkowski being the kind of ‘entitled’ aristocrat that we shouldn’t want… the next best thing about this is all that egg on Slate’s face.
Murkowski and the GOP masterminds just do not relate to the new red meat voters who have been voting Republican by default.
Individual candidates can raise plenty of direct contributions for their campaigns if they stick to their principles. On the other hand, like so many others, I am done sending $25 to candidates or groups that immediately spend the $25 on sending me stupid surveys and highlighted letters full of boilerplate garbage and “handwritten” notes pleading that I send another $25. (By the way, you get the same abuse for sending $100, so why not just go on the cheap from the beginning?)
I wonder if this improves Palin’s standing more than anything else? She deserves much more respect than she’s getting.
At the same time, let’s thank Sen Murkowski for accepting defeat with dignity.
The message is, business as usual is over, for the time being,
… like everyone ought to do, who runs for public office and loses.
TL, your point is valid… and yet… an index of how far America has sunk. One of those “Let’s thank the person for what was once our normal, expected minimum of decent behavior” type moments.
*nods* It is a shame when it is the exception not the rule.
What is it I said in 2000? We now know that Richard Nixon has more grace in defeat than Al Gore.
Senator Mitch McConnell is going to have find him a different coalition within the Senate; all his people are either losing in primaries or are retiring. He could find himself out of the Senate leadership position with his people gone.
Although not a fan of Senator McConnell, I do respect him for holding the Republican senators together during the Obama Health Care and stimulus messes. The job must have been like herding cats, since every one of them has an ego.
Good point about McConnell, Louise, very good.