Sen. Lisa Murkowski to Mount a Third-Party Run?

[MattusMaximus]

Has anyone else heard any news on this? Is it even remotely possible? If she did this, could she win? Wow, the prospect of Murkowski pulling a "Charlie Crist" in Alaska has my head spinning...

Palin Foe Mulls Third-Party Run

There’s a new wrinkle in Alaska’s hotly contested GOP Senate primary. With all precincts reporting, Senator Lisa Murkowski is trailing Palin-endorsed insurgent Joe Miller by less than 2,000 votes. And a source inside Murkowski’s campaign tells The Daily Beast the senator may abandon the GOP for a third-party run. Shushannah Walshe reports from Alaska.

All the precincts in Alaska have now reported and Joe Miller, the primary challenger for the Alaskan Republican Senate race, is still leading incumbent Lisa Murkowski by less than 2,000 votes.

The ongoing battle for who won the Republican primary in the Alaska Senate race will come down to the absentee ballots, but in an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, a source within the Murkowski campaign says they know of one possible legal option to pursue a third-party run. If Murkowski is not victorious when the absentee ballots are counted and decides to wage an Independent party bid, they might consider using this option, which the source wouldn't describe, but did confirm they were seriously looking at. ...

I'd welcome others' views on this.

Wow, the irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife. The potential that in both FL and AL, the GOP establishment candidates get kicked out of the primary by the Tea Party-backed "outsider" candidates, and they then come back as true independents into the general election.

One thing's for sure: this certainly isn't a boring election

 

[Darth Rotor]

Sen. Lisa Murkowski to Mount a Third-Party Run?

It's OK if she's on top, but if a third party mounts her, he probably better run lest the cops catch him ... unless it's a pony ... or a donkey.

 

[dudalb]

If this is just a rehash of the Libertarian Party story of a few days ago, that's dead.
Murkowski ran a very bad campaign, and apparently despite some warnings from within her own camp, did not tiak Miller seriously until too late. Her arrogance was her undoing.
I have a close friend in Anchorage, and according to him there was a lot of resentment in the GOP over the way that Lisa, basically, got the job of Senator from her father when she was Governor. A lot of the votes were not so much for MIller as against the Murkowski dynasty.
She is going to have up her game considerable to stand a chance.
THe Dems have a weak candidate becase the feeling was that Murkowski was unbeatable.
Miller apparently thinks the RNC was trying to favor her in the election and vote count,and he is attacking the GOP establishment as much as he is Obama.
IF he gets in, he is gonna be a loose cannon of huge proportions. You can hide a few extremists in the House...and both parties have their Ron Paul and Dennis KUcinich types....but it's much harder in the senate.

 

[SezMe]

Murkowski ran a very bad campaign, and apparently despite some warnings from within her own camp, did not tiak Miller seriously until too late. Her arrogance was her undoing.

I agree. Massachusetts revisited.

I have a close friend in Anchorage, and according to him there was a lot of resentment in the GOP over the way that Lisa, basically, got the job of Senator from her father when she was Governor. A lot of the votes were not so much for MIller as against the Murkowski dynasty.

I won't argue the dynasty part, but the first part seems wrong. She handily won her first election to the Senate. I would expect the resentment to have been expressed then, close to her appointment, not 8 years later.

 

[ponderingturtle]

If this is just a rehash of the Libertarian Party story of a few days ago, that's dead.
Murkowski ran a very bad campaign, and apparently despite some warnings from within her own camp, did not tiak Miller seriously until too late. Her arrogance was her undoing.
I have a close friend in Anchorage, and according to him there was a lot of resentment in the GOP over the way that Lisa, basically, got the job of Senator from her father when she was Governor. A lot of the votes were not so much for MIller as against the Murkowski dynasty.
She is going to have up her game considerable to stand a chance.
THe Dems have a weak candidate becase the feeling was that Murkowski was unbeatable.
Miller apparently thinks the RNC was trying to favor her in the election and vote count,and he is attacking the GOP establishment as much as he is Obama.
IF he gets in, he is gonna be a loose cannon of huge proportions. You can hide a few extremists in the House...and both parties have their Ron Paul and Dennis KUcinich types....but it's much harder in the senate.

I prefer to take this that Alaska has finally decided to stand up to the gray menace and end the tyranny of Medicare.

 

[Puppycow]

I'm not even sure a three-way race could save the democrats though. If the democratic nominee is a credible centist or even slightly center-right, a two way race might be better. Either way tough year though.

 

[fishbob]

The democratic nominee is currently an almost complete unknown around the state.

With backing by national anti-tea party democrat support groups, I suspect we will learn a whole bunch about this candidate over the next 2 months. I sincerely hope he is not another loony, but I am not betting on it.