Murkowski warns Palin: If you want my seat, prepare for war
posted at 2:58 pm on December 2, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Two young pols, one with presidential ambitions, the other the daughter of the man her rival beat to become governor, vying to inflict a career-ruining defeat upon her rival. It’s not a primary race; it’s a Lifetime movie of the week.
If it happens, I shall demand to be transferred to Hot Air’s Alaska bureau, that I might taste the drama firsthand.
Murkowski, up for reelection in 2010, is nervously awaiting word on whether John McCain’s former running mate will run against her in the GOP primary. But she says Palin is the one who should be nervous.
“I can guarantee it would be a very tough election,” Murkowski said in an interview…
That argument is not lost on Murkowski, who points to her rising seniority in the Senate and her ascension to the top Republican spot on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, replacing retiring Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.).
“One thing that Alaskans clearly appreciate is seniority,” said Murkowski, who was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, who had just won the governor’s race. “If she were to kind of move me over, if you will, to run for national office again at the expense at this seniority that’s been built, I don’t know if Alaskans would look too favorably on that.
Are Alaskans that attuned to the vagaries of committee assignments? Sufficiently so that they’d rather have seniority on the energy panel than send to the Senate the most famous proponent of drilling in America, who can drive the issue simply by leveraging the media’s obsession with her? If yes, they’re not crazy: Remember, it was Hillary’s inability to convert her celebrity into meaningful power that supposedly drove her to accept the State position. If Palin tries this, though, it almost certainly means she’s going to pass on 2012 and concentrate on 2016. Otherwise, what’s the point? She’ll endure one death match in 2010 to knock off Murkowski — only to turn around immediately and face another in the GOP primaries? Granted, Obama went almost directly from a Senate campaign to a presidential campaign, but (a) he had two years in between to build some very nominal national experience and (b) he desperately needed to raise his media profile before taking a crack at the Democratic nomination. Palin wouldn’t have time for (a) and doesn’t have to worry about (b). If she’s serious about challenging The One, her best bet is running again for governor. If not, bring on the drama.
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Awesome! I can’t tell you how many of my friends said on November 5th, “I’m moving to Alaska!” LOL! Though I’m not sure I’m tough enough for it. Living in sunny-breezy-take-it-easy California softens you. I visit family back east for Christmas and can’t handle the cold. What’s it like living in a place with no darkness for part of the year and no sunlight for another part of the year? I remember seeing that movie “Insomnia” and just thinking, “wow! it’s like another planet!” How long does that midnight sun period last? Months?
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 2:55 PM
The sun in Anchorage, starts going up fast here soon. March is when we see 12 hour days again and By May it is usually a sunset/sunrise senerio (11 pm-4 am)until About Sept. It is nice to be able to go fishing or hang out with friends having a good bbq or bonfire at all hours of the night.
Right now, if you are curious.. we have about 5-6 hours of daylight. I really don’t pay attention to it since I am so use to it.
upinak on December 3, 2008 at 2:58 PM
I got to tell you, because I was not a McCain fan, my first reaction to news of his running mate was, “Dear Lord, he couldn’t find anyone willing to run with him so he had to go to Siberia to get a running mate!” Of course, I soon became a Palinista after studying up on her. But I’ve always associate Alaska with some wild hinterland. This election has really made Alaska mainstream to the rest of us here in the “lower 48″. We look for great things to come out of there.
I often think that Sarah Palin is a startling echo of a figure from our now distant past — the American frontier woman. It’s startling because we’ve forgotten that it was tough courageous women who were willing to cross an uncharted wilderness with kids in tow to settle the American west. I feel in my gut that western conservatism is the last best hope for this country. We need to regain our sense of personal responsibility and the rugged individualism that pushes back encroaching nanny state government. But rugged individualism doesn’t have to mean anti-community or anti-social responsibility. One of David Brooks’ recent criticisms of Goldwater conservatism is that it denies the need for community. If Palin can articulate a vision for conservatism that combines the western conservative tradition of individualism with a localism approach to social responsibility, I think she give conservatism a new direction for the 21st century.
With that in mind, I’m interested in her statements about “revenue sharing” and her positions on moving control away from state bureaucracy in Alaska towards more local communities.
I read this great article from the Weekly Standard about your great state and was reminded that this sort of Alaskan libertarian spirit is exactly what we need. We need to regain the spirit that made this country great. It’s demoralizing to see our industry leaders and even governors go cap in hand begging for handout from the federal government.
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 3:39 PM
yep, typical Alaska. Buser is cool and his sons are nice. I don’t much care for his wife, but then again she admited she is a hippie.
Many up here are just a different breed. We don’t care much for those who say we should do it “this way” because it never turns out like it would down in the lower 48. People who visit marvel over the mountains, the size of the wildlife and the people and how friendly (depending on that too) we are as well as how big the State is.
We don’t care what is thrown our way… but the accent thing is kind of annoying. Most have no problems with pot (I am allergic, but if you don’t do it around me I could’t care less) or guns or trapping etc. I am going to set trap this weekend actually… ermine are beautiful this time of year.
It is just “different” up here and only if you are here longer then a 2 weeks period do you begin to understand.
I will say one thing… we hate slow drivers and those who don’t do the law… if you have 5 cars behind you, you must pull over and let them thru law. It is even posted on the highways! But hey… most of the time it is damn tourists from Alberta who can’t speak english!
upinak on December 3, 2008 at 3:55 PM
Not long ago I saw a PBS documentary from the Nature series titled “Mystery Alaska”. It was about the efforts to find out why the Steller sea lion population was diminishing and how pollock fishing was banned as part of this effort. The documentary then explores the fact that it doesn’t appear that banning pollock fishing did any good. And they then tried to figure out what the cause really was. The thing I was left with is the fact that some animal rights group needlessly destroyed the living of thousands of pollock fishermen for no reason. I mean, how crazy is that? It really made me think twice about the Polar Bear thing. What if the “science” there is as screwy as the science behind the ban on pollack fishing.
It must be frustrating to have the rest of the country tell your state that you’re not allowed to develop your resources, and then turn around and complain about all your federal earmarks. I mean, if we don’t want to give you federal money for infrastructure development, then we should at least allow your state the right to develop your land and raise the revenue yourselves.
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 4:22 PM
if the polar bears are dieing of anything… it is ingesting garbage because the greenies won’t let the native Villages bury the trash… it has to be hauled out. The was a polar bear that died and a vet I know did an necropsey on it. It had a can top off of a tuna or pea can stuck in it’s throat and is slashed it on both sides of the throat. It died a horrible death. But the Bears are doing well other then that.
Alaska is 70% owned by the Federal Government. That is also most of the waters off shore. Not a lot of people understand that unless they are coastal.
But it is frustrating… especially when you talk to someone in the lower 49, and they say you have to do it this way.. and yet have never stepped foot up here.
but hey… I just live here ya know!
upinak on December 3, 2008 at 4:36 PM
You think that’s bad? How about the vampire movies that takes place in Barrow, Alaska during winter? It had Josh Hartnett I think in it.
Alaskans have it tough. I’d be a Christopher Plumber Evangelical too if I lived up there. :)
Sapwolf on December 3, 2008 at 5:01 PM
I saw something on the Discovery channel that said the reason behind the endangered species listing was that the melting polar ice meant that the polar bears couldn’t travel to the islands to eat seals, and so the bears were getting thinner and even fighting each other — as if they were going to eat each other or something. I’m watching this, thinking, “Dude, just throw ‘em some friggin’ food!” How is listing them as endangered going to change the weather? Besides all that, they’re not endangered yet — they’re just hungry!
Makes no sense. My favorite line about Alaskan oil and gas development came from an Ann Coulter article. She was saying that the trans Alaska pipeline did not harm the caribou herds as some claimed it would, but even if it did the sane response in a time of a gas shortage would be, “Sorry, caribou, you’ve got to take one for the team.”
I mean, if it was a choice between making our nation energy independent or keeping the polar bears happy, I’d say move the polar bears! Tranquilize them, load them into trucks, and move them to Canada. Or send them to the zoo.
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 5:12 PM
As a Catholic, I am very attracted to Sarah for the same factors you mention above. She seems to understand if not formally, but in substance the Catholic principle of ’subsidiarity’ or that charity should start at the bottom in local communities because that is where it has the most effect and in an efficient mannor and more often with more heart behind it. I get so frustrated with ‘big-government’ Catholics who are totally ignorant of their Faith. Catholic doctrine goes with the religious freedom desired by social conservatives and also the economic subsidiarity of charity of libertarians/socons.
If this is where she stands, Sarah has a good chance of articulating a real all-round conservative philosophy incorporating:
1) True respect for the Constitution similar to Ron Paul,
2) Promotion of a social conservatism within restrictions of the Constitution and moving some issues to the states via the 10th Amendment.
3) Compassion at the grass-roots level, but a ready government for major disasters like Katrina.
4) Reassessment of foreign policy with the goal to reign in too much overextension of military and a more prudent foreign policy.
5) Loosening federal government restrictions that are blocking the states from taking more ownership of their economies/industries.
She already appears to be a fiscal conservative and is for government reform.
I think she has a lot in common with Ron Paul’s philosophy than I think people are noticing.
She could start by reading the works of Kirk, Weaver, and Nisbet to start if she hasn’t already.
This is her chance to communicate who she is. Her brand of limited government could drive the GOP for quite awhile if she pursues it, or the next great GOP leader.
The GOP should always be the party of a strong military as a deterrant to other nations, but the neo-conservatism along with RINO’s must be purged from the core of the GOP.
Sapwolf on December 3, 2008 at 5:20 PM
Discovery went on what the greenies told them … they were wrong. Seal live and give birth in small snow caves. The Bears look for little humps in the snow and listen. If they hear something, they bash the hump in.. and 50% of the time they find a pup seal. The seals are all over, it is the polar bears that are getting lazy. They like the large garbage dumps.
Caribou aren’t going to die off anytime soon. Those dumb animals (or so what everyone thinks) stay near the pipeline because they know they won’t get shot at. Bow Hunting is a little different but same idea. Caribou aren’t stupid. The Polar Bears and Polar Grizzly’s got smart and start getting them if they are near a pipeline though.
upinak on December 3, 2008 at 5:20 PM
But Sarah isn’t saying stupid things like Ron Paul.
And she is a tad easier on the eyes.
upinak on December 3, 2008 at 5:21 PM
This one in Barrow is ready to go.
meltenn on December 3, 2008 at 5:26 PM
ROTFLMAO!!! That’s classic! See, he just wants to go the San Diego zoo.
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 5:35 PM
This is why we need to let the Alaskans deal with their animals themselves instead of some biologist from Yale who flies in for a month to do a Discovery documentary. I always found it intriguing that Palin would say that they needed to consult with the “native elders” about things like the polar bears because they knew more about them than anything. Good thinking!
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 5:40 PM
Wow! You took the words right out of my mouth! I’m a little stunned because it’s not everyday that you meet someone who was thinking the exact same thing you were.
I send you a huge cyber high five! I totally agree with you about ’subsidiarity’. And it’s good to know of a fellow Catholic who still reads Chesterton and Belloc. And a fellow conservative who reads Kirk, Weaver, and Nisbet.
Totally agree with you about the Ron Paul stuff. It should be noted that well over a year ago, the Ron Paul supporters thought that if Paul had by some miracle won the nomination, Sarah Palin would have been the perfect choice for his vp because she is ideologically in line with his libertarian values.
Her approach to government seems to be centered on her belief that the most effective government is local. Problems are solved locally. And what works on a local level should not be assumed to work on a national or even state level. Her support of local revenue sharing is a great case in point. Her criticism of “No Child Left Behind” is based on the fact that it is counterproductive in Alaska because in remote rural regions there is no alternative to the public school. If the public school fails the “No Child Left Behind” litmus test, there is no other option. Whenever Washington tries a “one size fits all” approach to matters like this they fail miserably. Her frustration at Washington interference could be felt in her RNC convention speech when she complained of “getting more marching orders from Washington, D.C.” It’s classic small government libertarianism.
BTW, during the primaries the only candidate that Palin gave enthusiastic praise for was…wait for it…Ron Paul! I’m not suggesting that she would agree with him on everything, but she is certainly sympathetic to his libertarian ideals, though I’m sure she would differ with him on other things.
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 5:52 PM
Gov. Palin is not interested in a Senate seat. She has “other” plans for 2012. This a trumped up story.
Captain America on December 3, 2008 at 6:43 PM
I hadn’t spent much time looking at all the background about Veco, and the history of Palin and the Republican party in Alaska. I knew the basics (That there was corruption, that she had taken on Ruederich and others in the party, and had tried to clean things up.), but not the details.
I spent some time this afternoon looking at all of it. It was quite enlightening to read about some of the people who are on the Legislative Council that ran Tasergate. I don’t remember ever reading an article during the campaign that explained that Cowdery is under indictment and that Sarah called for him to step down. And it sure seems like there’s a lot of smoke around Veco and Green. I think you’re right, where there’s that much smoke there’s usually a fire.
meltenn on December 3, 2008 at 8:02 PM
Great minds think alike! I was doing a little reading and research myself. I finally broke down and purchased Kaylene Johnson’s book, and my jaw dropped reading this (see if you can guess which part shocked me):
So let me get this straight: the Anchorage Daily News sold column space in their newspaper to a company with a vested interest in defeating one candidate so that they could use their column to dredge up stories to defeat that candidate. Wow! The ADN really is a yellow rag.
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 8:32 PM
That’s insane. Since when do newspapers sell column space to companies? You’re supposed to pay your columnists ADN, not the other way around.
meltenn on December 3, 2008 at 8:49 PM
here is a shocker for you both.
The Voice of the Times was originally a paper called the Anchorage Times, which was a conservative paper before it went under. It was also owned by Bill Allen, the CEO and owner of Veco.
Alaska… small small world I live in.
upinak on December 3, 2008 at 10:58 PM
Crazy! They really were dead set on taking her out, weren’t they? I just read in the Johnson bio that Palin and Parnell had all of $60,000 between them when they began their run in the general election, and the state GOP wouldn’t give them the $200K they could have and should have. It’s surreal. They really were running against a party full of corruption.
ramrocks on December 3, 2008 at 11:18 PM
Murkowski better watch her a$$, and she knows it. That chair is Sarah’s for the asking and everyone knows it. ;)
I’d move to Alaska but I hate freezing my hiney off.
That said, it will be in Alaska’s favor if Sarah stays in the governorship until she terms out; past history has led me to believe that senators are mostly worthless.
NTXLass on December 3, 2008 at 11:38 PM
Ram yes it is surreal.
Makes life interesting now that it is on a national level.
upinak on December 3, 2008 at 11:48 PM
Sarah can only run as Governor until 2014. What does she do after that if she doesn’t run in 2012?
Someone can’t run for President as a private citizen in Alaska? Or can they?
Hypotheticals!!!!
Crux Australis on December 4, 2008 at 12:43 AM
any citizen can run for President as long as they are over 35 years of age
joey24007 on December 4, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Responses from Murkowski and Palin’s spokesman on Alaska Public Radio, and from the ADN. The gist: it’s a media created story.
meltenn on December 4, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Actually, Murkowski was asked Nov. 4th about it. It isn’t as made up as one would think… more a story built on a story.
upinak on December 4, 2008 at 11:53 AM
And was born in this country.
ramrocks on December 4, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Politico is still pushing this story. They asked Begich for his take yesterday.
meltenn on December 5, 2008 at 2:01 AM
Like Begich has much to say to begin with. The guy si a complete wind bag.
upinak on December 5, 2008 at 11:15 AM
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