Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski involuntarily retired yesterday when he came in third in his state’s Republican primary, polling just 19 percent of the vote.
So… um… where are all the headlines about crazed, right-wing extremists taking over the Republican Party? My God… the GOP rank and file tossed out an incumbent! Where’s the outrage? Where are the claims that Republican nominee Sarah Palin is the “al-Qaeda candidate”…?
Oh, and another difference between the reaction to this primary and the one in Connecticut:
Murkowski shook Palin’s hand in the middle of a crowd of her supporters.
“Congratulations, you’ve got my support. I’ll do everything to see that you’re elected,” Murkowski told her.
That’s because Murkowski is a Republican. But then, judging from his refusal to honor the will of Democratic voters, so is Joe Lieberman.
Lieberman and Lamont Tied in Connecticut
Some 44 percent of respondents deemed “likely voters” supported Lieberman, while 42 percent said they would vote for Lamont in the November election. This gap was well within the margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points. Republican nominee Alan Schlesinger got backing from 3 percent of likely voters.
As far as I can tell from the article you link to, this wasn’t an ideological confrontation that pitted an angry, far-right insurgency within the Republican party against mainstream party strategists who want a candidate to court more centrist non-party voters. It appears to just be about getting rid of an incumbent who looks pretty corrupt.
Goldy,
Not a surprise, but Lieberman’s biggest fans are Republicans, 57% say they’d vote for Joe.
Poll done 8/17 – 8/21
“But then, judging from his refusal to honor the will of Democratic voters..”
Joe Lieberman is not refusing to “honor the will” of all CT voters. He is not running as a dem, so what is the problem. If CT wants xtra-lefty, pander-and-run Lamont they will vote him in.
It would have been even more interesting if the senate dems were to strip Lieberman of all the dem-bennies, and then have to be perhaps one short of a majority come November. In fact, if Goldy would start criticizing the senate dem-leaders for not stripping Joe of all his senority, caucus rights, etc., in order to “honor the will of Democratic voters” she would not seem like such a hipocrite.
The really bad news for Joe from the latest poll is that he’s losing support among Democrats. In blue CT, he’s got to get about a third of the Democrats for the Republican support to put him over the top.
30% won’t do it.
David @2,
Yes, that’s exactly right. According to the article I linked to — and all the press accounts — this was merely an example of Republican voters tiring of the incumbent’s antics and choosing themselves a new governor.
But the coverage of the Connecticut primary completely dismissed the primary voters as a bunch of left-wing moonbats.
Apparently, Alaskan Republican primary voters can make reasonable decisions but Connecticut Democratic primary voters cannot. At lease according to the press coverage I’ve read.
Just heard of a coordinated smear campaign between Lieberman, John McCain and Faux Snooze Channel.
They claim Lamont supports immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
It’s a lie. Lamont supports the Kerry plan which is a phased withdrawal.
Look for the lies to pile up in a crescendo of hate speech transmitted through the right-wing noise machine and the wingnut lackey bloggers.
Why is it you don’t hear Democrats chanting “Save Tookie!!” anymore? hehe, JCH
4.
He is not running as a dem
That’s not what Joe says.
SCHIEFFER: — But are you a de facto Republican as Ned Lamont said that you were?
LIEBERMAN: Well, obviously not. Again, my opponent’s new at politics, but he’s getting pretty good at the old-style Washington smear partisan political game. I’m a Democrat.
Face the Nation, 8/20/06
Hey, commie lib idiot Democrats!! [GBS, My Left Foot, Carl Grossman, Roger Rabbit, Harry, and JDB], Did you know that if you feel you are not paying enough tax you can simply send a check to Uncle Sam? To say thank you for all of the blessings that have been showered upon your grateful and smiling countenance? Why force others to pay more when you can step up and show us the way? Show us that you care!!! Do it for “da chillin”!!!!! Indeed you can and the address is here:
Gifts to the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Credit Accounting Branch
3700 East-West Highway, Room 6D37
Hyattsville, MD 20782
Doc JCH Kennedy @ 10,
Don’t hold your breath waiting for anyone here to send $$$ to that address.
11, But, It’s for the “chillin”!! And the New Orleans Levee Board vacationing at the Ritz in Kapalua, Maui!! Commie libs!!! Here is your chance to show us that you are not just “guvment” parasites!!! hehe, JCH
As much as I like Goldy, he’s just wrong here. Murkowski wasn’t run out of office because he disagreed with his party on ideological issues – as was the reason Lieberman was. Murkowski was just a moron, and that’s why he was run out.
“I don’t belong to an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.” – Will Rogers
Goldy remarked:
“coverage of the Connecticut primary completely dismissed the primary voters as a bunch of left-wing moonbats”
Gotta love that “liberal” media.
Still, I do wonder why we spend so much time out here worrying about Connecticut politics. If Sen Lieberman gets reelected (a distinct possibility) he’ll be slapped gently on the wrist by the Democratic leadership and welcomed back.
Connecticut voters will decide this. Beyond sending a bit of cash to help Mr. Lamont, I’m really not sure what we can (or should) do about this anyway, and we’ve got local elections to focus on.
I’m not even sure who is running for the Washington Senate or House from over on your side of the water. Are any of the races interesting? These are the folks that can actually make a big difference in our lives.
I think we’ll see Lieberman’s support among both Democrats and Republicans drop by Election Day. Lamont will consolidate his base, to some extent whatever extent that is, and I find it kind of hard to believe that by Election Day only 3% of the electorate (whatever proportion that is of the CT GOP vote) will vote for a real Republican as opposed to a Republican who feels the need to say publicly “I’m a Democrat.”
Murkowski, pulling a whopping 18.74% of his own party’s voters, did much better than LOW TAX LOOPER, who got only 4% against a write-in candidate.
16
If elected, Looper couldn’t have served in the Tennessee state senate anyway, because he is doing life without parole for murdering his opponent.
Looper didn’t have anything against popular Democratic senator Tommy Burks; he didn’t even know the guy. Looper simply thought he’d stand a better chance of winning if he ran against a dead guy. His campaign strategy went awry when a witness saw him shoot Burks in the head at Burks’ farm.
A candidate has to be pretty bad to lose 96% of the vote to a write-in candidate. Looper, a Republican, set the standard by which all future GOP misfits, crooks, and thugs running for public offices will be judged … ! Even Washington’s worst GOP candidates in recent memory (e.g., Motherbeater Irons, Ellen Craswell, and John Carlson) got into the thirties (over 30%, that is) … hell, even CIGARETTE SMOKE enjoyed the support of slightly over 30% of the electorate … which should give you some idea of how hard incumbent governor Murkowski had to work at fucking up his state to get only 18.74% of his own party’s vote. That’s only half of what Motherbeater Irons got, and only 4 1/2 times what Looper got.
Let’s see, the GOP candidate in Connecticut is polling, what, about 8% of the general election vote? Needless to say, the guy is corrupt and embroiled in scandals — what Republican isn’t? But only 8%?? Even Motherbeater Irons did 4x better than that, after beating the shit out of his mother. Maybe if Irons had raped his mom he could have gotten down into single digits — like the GOP candidate in CT — but Looper’s record probably is safe for a while. There are always some stupid die-hard wingnuts who will vote Republican no matter what.
Roger – just say it and then shut the fuck up!
Yawn…
Judging from your refusal to honestly deal with Maria’s love of the Iraq war you’re a Republican too.
RR
The poll referred to in the blog post had the GOP candidate at 3%. I just don’t believe he’ll stay there with Joe walking arouns saying “I’m a Democrat.”
Then again, Joe has a tough row to hoe to keep all of his voters committed. How does he woo voters from teh GOP and the Democrats at the same time. When Lamont declares that he’ll fight for Democratic values and the GOP candidate tells Republicans the he’ll fight for Republican values (between trips to the casino), what does Joe tell ’em?
Lamont’s going to certainly peel off some Dems (he won’t LOSE voters to Joe; he’ll GAIN a few Dems now that Joe is “I” and not “D”) and the Rpublican will peel off some Republicans by Election Day, unless he’s a total idiot (which he may be). I think Joe’s going home.
Yosarrian: Furball, is famous at Aces too!
“Amish, was that guy calling himself Roger Rabbit? I think I just saw the thread. The poor fool could hardly string two thoughts together, but there he was, triple and quadruple posting just pure utter stream of consciousness nonsense.”
Considering the source, a circle jerk of right wing has beens, their consolidated opinion isn’t worth a bucket of cold spit.
Goldy you can’t try to make points that are anything less than crystal clear for these inbred right wing morons. They need a road map to find their ass.
10
“Hey, commie lib idiot Democrats!! [GBS, My Left Foot, Carl Grossman, Roger Rabbit, Harry, and JDB], Did you know that if you feel you are not paying enough tax you can simply send a check to Uncle Sam?” Commentby Doctor JCH Kennedy— 8/23/06@ 10:47 am
I mailed a check today … drawn on your account, and forged your signature …
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“Roger – just say it and then shut the fuck up!” Commentby Yossarian— 8/23/06@ 1:52 pm
“Yo” is a contraction of “yahoo” (as in “trailer park yahoos”) and is properly spelled “Y’o.” Like many wingnuts, Y’o can’t even spell his own fucking name.
Also, reading HA is a voluntary activity. If you don’t know how to use your scroll button, ask a kid to show you.
23
How can anyone do worse than Low Tax Looper? Did the guy rape his mother?
24
I’m sure that assimilating stream of consciousness writing is beyond your meager intellectual capacities.
24
Kind of an interesting situation here … I’ve never heard of Aces, but the fascist trollfucks on Aces have heard of me … GOOD!!! Mike Sucks, would you do me a favor — next time you post there, tell ’em I’ve got a message for all rightwingers everywhere:
Go fuck yourselves, and fuck the armadillo you rode in on!!!
24
Hey, I’m only a 12-lb. rabbit! I can handle only 1 coherent thought at a time. (Which is more than any winger can handle at any time, all the time.)
26
Hell, they can’t find their own blogs WITH a road map! They keep getting lost on the internet and ending up here.
Speaking of which, I wonder how Stefan’s traffic is these days.
HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR
I wonder how many other fascist blogs I’m famous on?
IT’S THE INCUMBENCY , STUPID !!! You don’t get it , Goldy , It is about INCUMBENCY , Alaska rather than holding It’s nose and voting for the status quo is kicking out the rotten politicians that are causing voters to have to hold their collective noses .
I’d be curious if Cantwell is going to continue her War campaign on Alaska if Tony Knowles , Alaska Democrat and 2 time Governor , is Governor again ? Alaskans can take care of cleaning and maintaining their own political machines and Washington state Democrats should be doing the same . It’s time to send Maria Cantwell a strong message that her International policies , well , stink .
Attn: Roger Rabbit-you are confusing “famous” with “stupid”- you sound like Tom Cruise’s Scientology fuckmate.
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You know, the candidates Al Queda would like to see win in November are the Republicans. It wasn’t until the Shrub won the presidency and went into Iraq, which Osama Bin Laden dispised almost as much as he did the U.S.A., that Al Queda began to get real money from Arabs. Before that it was mainly Bin Laden’s money that was financing the organization. Now they are not only receiving huge amounts of money, but also mover volunteers than they know what to do with.
So why would they want the Democrats in power? All that would mean is that their cause will become a non-issue and the money and volunteers will shrivel up.
The Problem with your comment, spitintheocean, is that it isn’t Cantwell who is messing with Alaska Politics, It’s Ted Stevens who is sticking his nose in Washington State Politics. Cantwell has not had one fundraiser for Tony Knowles, nor has he asked her to.
You Republicans need to get your facts straight. I support the openning of ANWR, but I sure hope BP doesn’t get the lease or we’re all in trouble. BP has shown that government oversight is needed on the north slope. Even the Republicans in the state are realizing that. If the oil industry is going to continue running Prudoe Bay, Kuparak and the other leases they way they have these past few years, we shouldn’t open ANWR.
And ANWR stands for Alaska National Wildlife Reserve. It’s the Nation’s land, not Alaska’s. Alaska’s will benefit from it, but not as much as from Prudoe Bay or the other state leases.