The AP reports that Lisa Murkowski could ruin GOP plans to hold on to her seat:
A week after conceding the GOP primary, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she’s not a quitter and is “still in this game.”
Murkowski told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she’s been inundated with calls and e-mails from supporters, asking her not to leave the race. She says she’s been humbled and is listening – and weighing her options.
She said that if this was “all about Lisa, certainly the easy thing for me to do would be to figure out what my next opportunity would be with my family and just settle in to a nice job.”
“But what I’m looking at is
Murkowski told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she’s been inundated with calls and e-mails from supporters, asking her not to leave the race. She says she’s been humbled and is listening – and weighing her options.
She said that if this was “all about Lisa, certainly the easy thing for me to do would be to figure out what my next opportunity would be with my family and just settle in to a nice job.”
“But what I’m looking at is
my state and the future of my state for my kids. So, I have not made that determination that I’m going to give up. I’m not a quitter, never have been. And I’m still in this game,” Murkowski said.
She met briefly Tuesday with the Libertarian candidate, David Haase after friends of hers – without her direction, she said – approached his party, asking if they would consider a Murkowski candidacy. She said she had an interesting discussion with Haase but made clear she’s not interested in changing her “political stripes.”
Besides a third-party run, Murkowski also could seek a write-in candidacy, which she called high risk. Or, she could decide to stay out of the race.
She met briefly Tuesday with the Libertarian candidate, David Haase after friends of hers – without her direction, she said – approached his party, asking if they would consider a Murkowski candidacy. She said she had an interesting discussion with Haase but made clear she’s not interested in changing her “political stripes.”
Besides a third-party run, Murkowski also could seek a write-in candidacy, which she called high risk. Or, she could decide to stay out of the race.
RealClearPolitics reports that it seems Murkowski’s campaign manager is “itching” to get back in the race:
Reached by phone from Murkowski’s campaign office, which has remained up and running as staffers complete administrative tasks, Bitney sounded like someone who was itching to jump back into the fight.
“It is a campaign office that is just ready to launch at a moment’s notice,” he said.
“It is a campaign office that is just ready to launch at a moment’s notice,” he said.
Murkowski probably doesn’t have a chance of winning either as a libertarian or as a write-in candidate, but she could potentially take away enough votes from Republican Joe Miller to deny him victory. And if her goal is to spite the GOP, that may just be what she does.
