Joe Miller was a good candidate and the GOPe is ultimately more aligned with the Democrats on policy positions than the Tea Party outsiders.....
McConnell voted for cloture earlier this year with the Dems so the debate could end and the vote to increase our national debt could go ahead.
Just the opposite, at least in this election. In Alaska, oil revenue is the major policy issue.
One of the major issues in this election was whether or not the voters would vote to repeal Sarah Palin's windfall profits tax(ACES). This was Proposition 1 in the election.
On one side there were the democrats, tea party, Joe Miller, and Sarah Palin in opposition to overturning the tax. On the other side was the GOPe supporting the end of Palin's tax.
The vote was very tight but the voters did overturn the tax.
After Parnell was elected governor in his own right, He, Dan Sullivan, and the GOPe set out to undo what Palin did as governor. Repeal Palin's oil tax and replace Palin's pipeline(AGIA) with a pipeline similar to Frank Murkowski's pipeline(Stranded Gas Act). They have now done both.
One of the reasons the GOPe wants Sullivan in DC as a senator is that he previously worked in the State Dept and has contacts there. Alaska will need State Dept approval to export the natural gas to Asia and they think Sullivan can help get that approval.