Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski to Mount a Write-In Campaign?

[MattusMaximus]

Wow... the hits just keep on coming...

AP Source: Murkowski expects to mount write-in bid

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who lost Alaska's GOP primary last month in a stunning upset to a tea-party backed rival, is expected to announce Friday that she'll mount a write-in candidacy in a bid to hold onto her job, a person close to her campaign told The Associated Press.

Her announcement is expected at a late afternoon rally in Anchorage, according to that person, who asked not to be named because of the planned formal announcement.

The decision to launch a write-in bid follows Murkowski's surprise defeat by tea party-supported Joe Miller last month.

Murkowski has said she has considered her options since conceding the race to Miller and following an outpouring of encouragement from Alaskans stunned by her loss.

Earlier this month, she told The Associated Press she wasn't a quitter and "still in this game." On Thursday, she told reporters that while there's a lot of risk involved in a run, success was possible. ...

I'm guessing the GOP/Tea Party is having fits with this right about now. Not only that, the great irony is that she's going to run as a true independent, not on a party ticket (which is weird because the "independent" Tea Party guy, Miller, is now on the party ticket).

Ah, good times

 

[dudalb]

I think Miller will win in any scenario, but a Murkowski write in campaign would make things interesting. It is going to be hard to her to overcome the "sore loser" label.

 

[MattusMaximus]

It will definitely be interesting, and it will shake up the race and make it much more competitive. I think she could actually seize a big chunk of the independent vote in Alaska, partly because of name recognition & partly because she can now go out and say, "look who is the real independent!"

At the very least, we can all agree that this is something the GOP/Tea Party didn't need. Not a good week for them.

 

[leftysergeant]

I'm kind of torn on this. I would love to see her go write-in/independant. It gives the Democratrs another shot at a super-majority.

Bad part is that it might be a wake-up call for the GOP and they will realize that they need to cut the teabaggers loose.

She might, in the long term, help save the GOP from itself.

Drat!

 

[The Fallen Serpent]

Nate Silver is claiming she still has a decent shot at winning the campaign as a write in candidate. That is interesting.

 

[Toontown]

Murkowski explained, "I looked into my heart. And I said, 'Where is my heart?'. And I saw that my heart is Alaska..."

And that's why she's not going to quit. She has this huge heart. But she didn't know where it was until she looked into it and saw how big it was.

Dammit. And I was hoping for a return to sanity this year.

 

[NoScotsman]

Alaska is quickly overtaking Minnesota for wackos in political office... something about the cold weather, I expect.

 

[MattusMaximus]

Nate Silver is claiming she still has a decent shot at winning the campaign as a write in candidate. That is interesting.

I agree with Silver on this point. Murkowski can now claim a legitimate title as a truly independent candidate, beholden to no party, and that's going to appeal quite a bit to many people in Alaska.

 

[Spindrift]

She's still going to lose. Write-ins have a very, very hard time of it some because it takes such an extra effort and is easy to screw up. I don't know if a write-in has ever won on a state-wide basis anywhere.

 

[MattusMaximus]

She's still going to lose. Write-ins have a very, very hard time of it some because it takes such an extra effort and is easy to screw up. I don't know if a write-in has ever won on a state-wide basis anywhere.

Strom Thurmond got elected to the Senate in 1954 via a write-in campaign.