The return of Joe Miller
Recent polling on Miller is scant, but data collected by Alaska pollster Ivan Moore reveals how much the candidate’s reputation had suffered by the end of 2010. In a poll of registered state voters conducted in September of that year, 35 percent had a positive view of Miller, 37 percent a negative one, 12 percent a neutral view; 16 percent said they did not know enough about him to have an opinion. Three months later, just 24 percent of Alaskans in Moore’s survey had a positive impression, while 66 percent had a negative view.
“He came out of that election with the perception of a seriously scary dude,” Moore said. “Joe Miller’s credibility, or lack of it, as a candidate is not a problem for him until he gets out of the primary. Within the Republican primary, they love him. But once the unwashed masses come into the room for the general, he’s toast, because literally every one of them views him as a loon, and they would vote for anyone to prevent him from getting into office.”
Miller is expected to declare his Senate intentions in the coming weeks and would likely face a crowded field of GOP opponents.
Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell announced in December that he was forming an exploratory to consider a run. Treadwell was an early backer of Mitt Romney’s in 2011 and would provide up a sharp contrast with Miller as a business-minded moderate, but he has indicated that he will stay out of the race if Gov. Sean Parnell throws his own hat into the ring.
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Miller had his chance and he blew it. Maybe it’s time for him to step aside.
KingGold on January 31, 2013 at 3:35 PM
We need someone good to take out Begich. I don’t know if Miller is the guy to do it, but I do think it’s interesting that a guy working for the federal government infiltrated his campaign.
Miller’s security guy who handcuffed the reporter and caused such a ruckus was an FBI infiltrator who voted for Obama twice. His name is Bill Fulton.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/11/bill-fulton-alaska-fbi-informant_n_2456883.html
juliesa on January 31, 2013 at 3:38 PM
Losing the scary, half-shaven lumberjack look would probably go a long way towards improving his credibility.
That being said, Parnell would be a good choice, though I like him as Governor. Treadwell is meh, but could easily beat Begich.
steebo77 on January 31, 2013 at 3:40 PM
The power of the media must be crushed or this will happen again and again.
If Christine O’Donald was a Democrat she would have won.
Fight the corrupt media.
GardenGnome on January 31, 2013 at 3:41 PM
Is he still telling people that he thinks unemployment benefits are unconstitutional? That’s a real winner right there.
Mark1971 on January 31, 2013 at 3:42 PM
Sarah Palin, time to step up to the plate…
JohnGalt23 on January 31, 2013 at 3:42 PM
Aside from the stupid 5 o’clock shadow, where exactly did he get this reputation from? For fighting Leena Micklewhite after she stabbed him in the back and ran a write-in campaign? No offense, but I want a fighter in the Senate, not some pushover who can be bought off.
Doughboy on January 31, 2013 at 3:44 PM
The aforementioned “unemployment benefits are unconstitutional” stuff, one of his staffers handcuffed a reporter and then he let the incident slide, and mostly a general campaign focused heavily on cutting federal spending in a state whose economy literally depends on it.
KingGold on January 31, 2013 at 3:51 PM
Look, I think Miller was ill-served by his campaign org and hisbown lack of political experience. However, I think he has a great personal story to tell and could be exactly the kind of principled conservative the Senate needs.
Still, Miller’s first step back to political rehabilitation must involve losing the beard. Makes it too easy for the LSM to caricature him.
Robert_Paulson on January 31, 2013 at 3:55 PM
I don’t think Miller did himself any favors with some of the tweets he sent out after winning the 2010 primary:
Kataklysmic on January 31, 2013 at 3:57 PM
Bear in mind the actual Democrat got a laughably small amount of votes in the general election. All the Democrats wrote in Moocowski in order to spite Sarah Palin. Miller might do much better without that working against him.
Sekhmet on January 31, 2013 at 4:07 PM
That staffer who handcuffed the reporter was an Obama voter working for the FBI. He roughed up the reporter to establish his bonafides with the groups on whom he was informing. Tanking Miller’s campaign was a nice little bonus.
Still, as you say, Miller should’ve canned him on the spot.
juliesa on January 31, 2013 at 4:07 PM
Didn’t you hear see spends her time in Arizona.
RickB on January 31, 2013 at 4:07 PM
If Joe can rehab his reputation, so can Ricky Hollywood. Yeah, I know,…but, think about it for a minute. Who better?
a capella on January 31, 2013 at 4:07 PM
Agree with the first part, but not the cutting federal spending. Also, his support of as for communist, totalitarian East German tactics turned me off. Joe Miller is an Obama-esque thug.
sauldalinsky on January 31, 2013 at 4:09 PM
Bob Kerrey spends his time in NY/DC. Didn’t stop him from running in NE. Tom Harkin doesn’t really live in IA. Rick Santorum didn’t really live in PA. Who knows where McCain actually lives. Hillary, perhaps one of the most famous carpetbaggers in history, got elected from NY. Residency is a pretty fluid concept when it comes to Senate elections.
steebo77 on January 31, 2013 at 4:18 PM
I don’t care if the staffer was Ronald Reagan’s ghost borrowing a human form. The fact remains that Miller could have handled it a much better way (by firing him and apologizing to the blogger) instead of letting it happen, something we agree on.
I understand that a lot of people would like to see him as a senator, because he’s a strong conservative. (I saw no proof of such apart from Palin’s endorsement, mind you, and I don’t think that a conservative should consider a reasonable safety net to be unconstitutional – after all, unemployment benefits are paid out of wages you accrue while working.) But we have got to stop prioritizing people whose ideology we favor, over people who can actually win these positions of power.
Miller, and similarly O’Donnell, Angle, and Buck, that year, were lessons that should have been learned. 2012 showed us they were not.
KingGold on January 31, 2013 at 4:19 PM
Yes, I totally agree, and we can’t keep making these mistakes with our senate nominees. It’s killing us. I just think it’s creepy that a Democrat working for the DoJ helped damage his campaign so badly. I’m not saying he was ordered to sabotage the campaign, but it’s bad that anyone could infiltrate like that.
Let it be a lesson to all GOP candidates that they must thoroughly vet their staffers and nip any weird behavior in the bud. .
juliesa on January 31, 2013 at 4:28 PM
In theory, yes. In actuality, no.
steebo77 on January 31, 2013 at 4:32 PM
That can be said about 99.8% of implemented government programs, though. Doesn’t make them “unconstitutional.” Nor does it preclude a conservative from supporting many of them as part and parcel of the American standard of living.
KingGold on January 31, 2013 at 4:39 PM
What lessons? You have to note the good and bad on both sides. Miller and O’Donnell were Tea Party flops, but the Tea Party had huge successes and drove the enthusiasm overall for a successful 2010 election season. By 2012, the Tea Party had fizzled out. Akin was a mix of establishment (longterm GOP congressman who voted the party line) and socon, nothing at all to do with the Tea Party. Angle was no better than Lowden. The establishment had their own flops in 2010, Lowden and Crist. The lessons are not all in the direction you imply. The key lesson would be more Tea Party, more Republicans win.
sauldalinsky on January 31, 2013 at 4:57 PM