Do Alaskans Really Want Murkowski?

Is Lisa Murkowski even qualified to serve as a United States Senator? She was a mediocre member of the lower house in the Alaska legislature when she was handpicked by her own father in 2002 to become a U.S. Senator. Frank Murkowski was a mediocre U.S. Senator who accomplished very little during the twenty-one years he represented Alaska in Washington, D.C. He was elected to the office of governor but didn't even make it through the next primary election. Meanwhile, he decided to appoint his own daughter to fill his vacated Senate seat. Two years later when she ran in her first statewide election, she barely won, receiving only 48.62% of the vote against Tony Knowles, a liberal Democrat. She was an incumbent Republican senator running for reelection in a Republican state in a Republican year and did not receive even 50% of the vote. A late endorsement by Senator Ted Stevens brought her enough votes to win.

Does Lisa Murkowski represent Alaskans or does she legislate according to her own political ideas. Alaska is a conservative state, but Murkowski is a liberal moderate. Lisa has an American Conservative Union voting record of 68%. In a comparison [http://www.americanthinker.com] with other Republican senators from similar states, Murkowski has the lowest ACU voting record: Arizona/Kyl 92% Arizona/McCain 96%, Idaho/Crapo 92%, Idaho/Risch 96%, Nevada/Ensign 100%, Utah/Bennett 84%, Utah/Hatch 88%, Wyoming/Barasso 100%, and Wyoming/Ensign 100%. McCain won 59% of the Alaskan vote, and Bush swept all the Rocky Mountain States (including Alaska) except New Mexico in 2000. Out of 319 Republicans in the House and Senate, 308 have more conservative voting records than Murkowski. She is a more liberal RINO than John McCain or Bob Bennett.

Do Alaskans really want a senator who was mentored by Ted Stevens? I don't wish to speak badly of the deceased, but I want to remind Alaskans that Stevens was convicted for corruption and was not declared innocent when the charges were dropped. The charges were dropped because the Department of Justice did something illegal.

Can Alaskans believe Murkowski when she speaks? During the primary election, she said that she would be willing to accept the decision of the voters. She apparently was confident that the voters would choose her. When she conceded the primary election to Joe Miller, she told Alaskans that she would return to Alaska and get on with her life. It turned out that she was unwilling to accept defeat and throw her support to Miller. Her plans to seek re-election with a write-in vote should tell Alaskans that her word is not good.

Does loyalty mean anything to Murkowski? After she lost the primary election to Miller, there was some talk about her moving to the Libertarian Party. Her write-in campaign has pitted the GOP against her and threatens to split the conservative vote. A split could very well give Alaskans another liberal Democratic senator - and Begich is one too many.

Do Alaskans want to be represented by a senator who considers them to be "extremists"? Murkowski recently said that the 55,878 Alaskans who voted for Miller were extremists. I am not an extremist because I believe in fiscal responsibility for our nation as well as states and individuals. I am not an extremist because I live within my income and pay my bills on time and expect my government to do the same. I am not an extremist because I love my country and want it to remain strong.

I believe that Murkowski does not have the good of Alaskans or Americans at heart. It appears that Murkowski is concerned only about keeping the power and prestige of serving in the U.S. Senate. I believe that it is time to elect someone who will represent conservative Alaska and forget about electing liberals and RINOs. I believe that we should give Joe Miller an opportunity to break the liberal hold on our nation and possibly keep America from going bankrupt.