Tea Party Express backs Miller over Murkowski.

[Blue_In_AK]

I absolutely love it when Republicans fracture. :evilgrin: The Alaska senate race could get interesting. Does Palin still wield influence here? If the Tea Party/Palin candidate wins the primary, is it possible the Democratic candidate, the mayor of Sitka, can win the general? Stay tuned.

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/152066?pageNum=1&&&&&&&&&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container

The Tea Party Express announced this morning it is backing Joe Miller’s bid to defeat Alaska Sen, Lisa Murkowski in the August Republican primary election. The group is promising to have staff on the ground in Alaska and to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to support his candidacy.

This is a big deal for Miller’s long-shot candidacy. The Tea Party Express said it will make the race its top priority between now and the Aug. 24 primary. (Who is the Tea Party Express? The Atlantic did a comprehensive story on the group last week. Read it by clicking here.)

The group promises to launch a wave of TV and radio ads supporting Miller, and opposing Murkowski in the coming weeks.

<snip>

Bryan Shroyer, political director for the Tea Party Express, said Murkowski "has become part of the problem in Washington."

"Her support for record deficit spending, and her flip-flopping on whether to repeal Obamacare are just two of the many issues in which she has broken trust with the citizens she was elected to represent," he said.

Murkowski told KTUU-TV in April that the federal health care law needs to be changed but "if you just repeal and you do nothing, we will not have addressed health care reform."

Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams is running for the seat as a Democrat.

The Murkowski campaign had this to say about the Tea Party Express move:

"Senator Murkowski’s credentials as a conservative are clear; she opposed the Democrat’s stimulus bills and voted nine times to repeal parts and the entirety of ObamaCare. Just last week, she led the fight to curtail a massive government encroachment into our economy--the EPA power grab on carbon emissions, which garnered a veto threat from President Obama. She has received “A” ratings from the NRA for her defense of 2nd Amendment rights, opposed raising the debt limit, and voted on five separate occasions to freeze non-defense discretionary spending."

There's a more "official" story here: http://www.adn.com/2010/06/16/1327235/tea-party-express-follows-palins.html

[saltpoint]

1. Agree, and recommended.

Let 'em go at each other with scythes!

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Hey, how ya doing?

Good to see you. :)

[saltpoint]

4. Hangin' on. Good to see you too also.

(sorry -- couldn't help myself...)

[winstars]

3. Thanks for the Link!!!

The comments below the story from your fellow AK's are very informative for us 'lower 48'ers...

[Ter]

5. It's Alaska

The puke candidate could still win. If Palin won this nut can too.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. I think we've wised up a little bit.

Sarah's certainly not as popular here as she once was. Everybody knows she's a grifter and an opportunist. I hear people say all the time that they're sorry they ever voted for her.

The race will also be interesting because Alaskans have a severe aversion to outside influences in our elections. The Tea Party Express coming in here with lots of money and ads may turn a lot of people off. People are also starting to wise up to the fact that Lisa has been bought off by Big Oil and isn't really speaking for us anymore, if she ever did, so it should be a really interesting contest.

Perhaps you're right that a Republican will win anyway, but if this Miller guy manages to beat Lease-A, all bets are off. The majority of voters here are registered independent or unaffiliated, and are not particularly religious or doctrinaire.

Like I said, it will be fun to watch.

[zbdent]

8. well, AK may have wised up ... but that's only because

every time the Palindumas leaves the state, the average of the IQ of Alaska skyrockets ...

[zbdent]

7. Republicans/Baggers could spin an election where their candidate

receives 0 (ZERO) votes (meaning that their candidate didn't even vote for himself) into a "victory for our party" ...