In Alaska, Republicans abandon Teabagger Miller and embrace Incumbent Murkowski, Democrats see opening for McAdams

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I think it's quite hilarious that Republicans are now trying to distance themselves from Joe Miller, and, as ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports, "banking on a victory by write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski as the best bet for Republicans to keep the Alaska Senate seat.

What's so hilarious? Miller is the Republican candidate, having defeated the incumbent Murkowski earlier this year to much fanfare on the right. And now Republicans are bailing?

Sure, Miller, running a brutal campaign (and being, from what I can tell, a brutal thug), may very well be a lost cause, as even Sarah Palin has suggested, but, if anything, Republicans are just reaping what they have sown. Karl:

Murkowski defied party leaders by running a write-in campaign after she lost the Republican primary last month. But with Miller's campaign faltering, the source tells me that Republican leaders are now worried that Democrat Scott McAdams has a shot of winning and that Murkowski may be the only way to stop him.

It's a remarkable turnaround for Murkowski. She was punished by party leaders last month -- unceremoniously stripped of her post in the Senate leadership -- when she refused to bow out of the Senate race and endorse Miller. But she has consistently said she is still a Republican and will caucus with the Republican party if she wins.

The nightmare scenario for Republicans is that McAdams comes in second on Election Day, trailing "write-in candidate." Those write-in votes won't be counted unless there are more write-in votes than there are votes for any candidate on the ballot. Once the write-in votes are counted, however, some of them will inevitably be disqualified (illegible writing, wrong name, etc.). And a small number will be for candidates other than Murkowski. If enough are tossed out, second place McAdams would be the winner.

Murkowski lost the primary largely because the Tea Party, with Palin perhaps its #1 cheerleader, took over the GOP (or vice versa -- they're now pretty much the same, particularly at the "base" level). And now the Democrats do see an opportunity to pull out a surprise victory in a race that, had Murkowski been the GOP nominee, the Republicans surely would have won. (No wonder the Breitbart Right is resorting to lies and smears in the last few days of the campaign.)

If I were Lisa Murkowski, I'd tell the Republican Party to fuck off. But, of course, I'm not Lisa Murkowski.