Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski...

...conceded the Republican nomination last night to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller. According to Chris Cillizza, writing in the Fix:

Little known Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams won the Democratic nod and was immediately engulfed in speculation that he could drop out of the race and be replaced by a more highly regarded candidate. (He is staying in the contest.)

And, the National Republican Senatorial Committee released a poll Monday showing Miller with a 16 point edge over McAdams -- a warning shot meant to make clear to Democrats (and the national media) that this race isn't a toss up.

Will the DSCC say (or, more importantly, do) anything over the next few days that signals a genuine plan to get involved in the race? Remember that Democrats are faced with a broad playing field where they are largely on the defensive this fall. Spending money in GOP-friendly Alaska may not be the best investment given that reality.

Murkowski was rumored to have explored a third party candidacy but was rebuffed by the Libertarian Party. A write-in campaign would be nearly impossible.

I have a suggestion for the Democrats: dump McAdams in favor of Murkowski. The Democratic Party has become the centrist party in America anyway, so why not give it a shot? It could be a pick-up for the Dems in November.

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