Senator Jim DeMint Weighs in on the Alaska Republican Senate Primary

Red County ^ | August 29th, 2010 | Thomas Lamb

[theanchoragedailyruse]

If there is going to be a change within the Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate, it looks like the change will rest on the shoulders of Senator Jim DeMint.

In yesterday's Red County commentary, I stated that there seems to be a rift between the Republican senators in Washington D.C:

The direction I will be pointing at will be at a rift between Republican senators in Washington D.C. and it looks like the rift is over the Tea Party movement.

You would think given the fight against ObamaCare, there would be unity within the ranks of the Republican Senators.

But given the dynamics of what is taking place here in Alaska with the race between U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller, the rift between the Republican Senators definately revolves around the Tea Party movement.

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Steve Moore wrote about Senator DeMint and his PAC.

What was very apparent is how important this U.S. Senate race in Alaska is:

That club got disrupted further last week when incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski apparently lost to firebrand challenger Joe Miller in Alaska's Republican primary. (Absentee votes are still being counted.) "It's encouraging to me what happened in Alaska with Miller," Mr. DeMint told me yesterday. "It should be a wake-up call to Republicans that politicians who go to Washington to bring home the bacon aren't wanted—even in a state like Alaska that has gotten so much pork under senators like Ted Stevens. Voters are saying 'We're not willing to bankrupt the country to benefit ourselves.'"

The Alaska race highlights the tensions that are taking hold within the Republican Party. Can moderates and conservatives co-exist? At the moment, it seems that such unity would be necessary for taking back majorities from the Democrats. Mr. DeMint believes that "sure, numbers matter, I understand that, but not if we have to cave in our principles."

So what should the Republicans' top priority be if they take back the House, the Senate or both this year? "You need to start by putting a cap on spending."

Next he says, "we may not be able to repeal ObamaCare, but we can cut off the funding." Will they really? "Yes, if you have a wave of new people coming in—they've all campaigned on it."

The reason why I say the rift is over the Tea Party movement is: Murkowski is in complete opposite of what Senator DeMint's position is on ObamaCare and it was pointed out in the previously linked commentary.

What is more telling in following statements made in a redacted e-mail I had recieved; the sender spoke about Senator DeMint:

So I think its strongest to say that Murkowski has opposed repealing Obamacare, which is 100% true. Yes, she voted for Vitter's amendment, but there was a huge fight right after Obama signed Obamacare into law after reconciliation (30th) with many in the GOP leadership saying we can't fight to repeal all of the bill. Murkowski was in the camp of those arguing there were some good parts of the bill that were worth keeping, so we should just repeal parts of the bill and leave other parts in place (like the mandate on pre-existing conditions, and counting 26 year olds as dependents on their parents insurance plans). The only reason Murkowski says she's for full repeal now is because her camp lost the argument, and the Conservative/Tea Party/DeMint camp that argued for 100% repeal won and forced all the other GOP to get with the program.

Now you have to ask yourself, if Murkowski is against what DeMint was trying to do with ObamaCare and Senator Cornyn is putting on this show that he is for repealing ObamaCare, why is it, two months ago, the National Republican Senatorial Committee was telling Murkowski how to defeat Joe Miller?

Just over two months ago, I had written another commentary on Sarah Palin's endorsement of Joe Miller.

There I stated:

Of all of her endorsements made in U.S. Senate races (including Brown who was moving up in the polls), her endorsement of Joe Miller is what I call "laying it out on the line."

There is no doubt that Joe Miller is behind Senator Murkowski in this race and given Sarah's popularity is down in Alaska, this race is one to watch on a national level.

If Sarah's endorsement pulls in voters and gives Joe a win, then she is going to get her political swing back. As a national political figure, your popularity in your home state can't stay low with you trying to make it in a national political race. It will be used against you.

There is your answer to the previous question.

Shortly after Palin's endorsement of Joe Miller, the Tea Party Express endorsed Joe Miller. The timeframe was around June 16th, approximately two months ago and I bet that is when the NRSC started to get concerned.

Moreover, it was Palin who was the catalyst in the Joe Miller campaign and the Tea Party had a ton of money to throw in the direction of the senate race. And in the end, Joe Miller was the reason for how well he did.

The NRSC knows you can throw a ton of money at a candidate and get endorsements from people like Palin, but the bottom line is: the candidate will decide his or her fate. And here you have a candidate who is conservative and fits the Tea Party movement.

By the actions of the NRSC and certain Republican leaders, you can tell this race in Alaska is a pivotal race for the heart and soul of the Tea Party movement and Senator DeMint's efforts.

And because this senate race is a pivotal race, when you hear Senator Cornyn publicly talk about repealing ObamaCare, please do send him a shout-out of:

You Lie!

Because the NRSC while stating they help incumbent senators and used it as an excuse for their behind-the-scene support to Murkowski, Cornyn and the NRSC chose to help a Republican who was never in favor of repealing the entire healthcare bill signed into law by President Obama.

[meadsjn]

The elitists of both parties have been at war against We the People for many, many years. They really don't like that we are fighting back, we uppity peons.

The leftists of both parties have no clue what is happening in America. What they see as a passing phase, is actually a non-stop tsunami of determined freedom-loving Americans, stepping forth to take back our country.

We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail.

[truthfreedom]

On the topic of the NRSC. Ok, Murk is an incumbent, and they supported her against Miller.

The NRSC is apparently supporting Castle in Delaware over O’Donnell. Castle isn’t even an incumbent. Just a RINO. He’s a Congressman running for Senate.

I’d like a little bit of outrage there, as well as DeMint and Palin endorsements of O’Donnell.

[Joe Boucher]

Yesterday I went to (U.S.senate.gov) and sent Sen. , Cornyn
one hell of a nasty letter.
Told him what an ass he is and to not try to screw Miller.

[xzins]

I’d like to see some of our supposedly conservative republican senators push the repeal of certain provisions within Obamacare:

1. Those that aren’t related should be easy. Something about taxing gold coins is an outrage. Reveal it and get rid of it.

2. Anything dealing with individuals or groups having any “death panel” power should be eliminated.

3. Anything about forcing purchase of insurance should be eliminated.

[radioone]

This Tea Party movement is the best thing that has happened to politics in years. It has brought to the forefront the Socialistic/Marxist agenda of the Democratic Party. It has exposed the agenda of the Lamestream Media, and Now it is shining the light on some RINO Senators. The Big Test coming down the road will be the repeal of Obamacare, or not. So, as you can see, the Senate RINO’s are fighting for the status quo. They have a nice cushy job, and like McCain can pull the wool over the eyes of the voters every 6 years. The RINO’s need to be weeded out and sent home.

[Shane]

Excellent points! We have allowed a political class to develop. This MUST be stopped. Term limits is the only answer.

[Shery]

I pray that the ballots still being counted will leave no doubt of Joe Miller’s election bid to replace Lisa Murkowski. Lisa needs to go down, as she is part of the problem in DC.

[dalebert]

I am afraid they will not meet the challenge. most of the Republican leadership is clueless. part of them want to smak the conservative down.

[Diogenesis]

You would think given the fight against ObamaCare, there would be unity within the ranks of the Republican Senators.

The backstabbing is from the Romney-WIng of the GOP
which supports RomneyCARE (ObamaCARE) and sharia.

[onyx]

See Joe on CBS' "Face the Nation" Today

Joe Miller, candidate for U.S. Senate, will appear on the CBS' Face the Nation, this Sunday, August 29. to discuss the race and the current status of the election results in Alaska. He will be interviewed from from his home town of Fairbanks. See local listings for times in your area.

Over 23,000 absentee and questioned ballots are yet to be counted from last Tuesday's election. Joe currently has a 1668 vote lead. Absentee ballot counting will begin this Tuesday, August 31.

[onyx]

PING TO YOU

[libbylu]

http://www.adn.com/2010/08/28/1429399/absentee-ballots.html
New article on NRSC and Miller!

[libbylu]

Miller campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto said in an e-mail Saturday that there are many calls going out to Alaskans who voted absentee ballots, asking them who they voted for in the primary.

DeSoto said his basis for making that assertion is that a woman contacted the Miller campaign about getting a call, that such a call was brought up in the comment section of a story on the Daily News website, and that several people had called an Anchorage talk radio show to say they’ve received such calls.

“I believe, and time will prove it, (the calls) are being done for nefarious purposes,” DeSoto said in the e-mail. “It is definitely not being done by the Joe Miller campaign. It is being done, I believe, by the National Republican Senatorial Committee or someone they contracted with as the beginning of a legal battle to throw out ballots.”

It is public information who requests absentee ballots. Both the Murkowski campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign on Saturday denied making calls to absentee voters.

“Bottom line, we’re not making phone calls to anyone, and we have told both campaigns that whomever is chosen by the voters of Alaska to be their nominee, that candidate will have our full support,” said NRSC Communications Director Brian Walsh.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/08/28/1429399/absentee-ballots.html#ixzz0xzo7oV00

[onyx]

Are you going to post the article?

[libbylu]

Miller campaign spokesman DeSoto said NRSC is apparently now sending Mike Roman, who worked on the 2008 ballot recount for then-Sen. Coleman, to Alaska to work for Murkowski. Murkowski campaign manager Bitney said Roman is a private elections consultant who doesn’t work for the NRSC, and he is coming to Alaska at Bitney’s request. Roman is founder of Election Journal, which describes itself as an “online community dedicated to raising public awareness of vote fraud and election irregularities.” The Election Journal site calls Roman a veteran political consultant and private investigator.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/08/28/1429399/absentee-ballots.html#ixzz0xzozHQrW

[libbylu]

from comments:
Maybe I missed it in the comments, but this was in the Ear today:

“The call a bunch of earwigs got Friday night sounded like any other robo-poll asking you to push one for yes or favorable, two for no or unfavorable. Obama, Lisa as a Libertarian, Miller vs. McAdams, Parnell vs. Berkowitz, Sarah as an influence, as a presidential candidate. Expected stuff...”

“The robo-caller said it was a Public Policy Polling survey. Wikipedia says they’re a well-regarded outfit associated with the Democratic Party.”

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/08/28/1429399/absentee-ballots.html#ixzz0xzpoLEt9

[libbylu]

Do you mind posting? thanks. I always get confused.

[onyx]

Okay.

[StAnDeliver]

"So what should the Republicans' top priority be if they take back the House, the Senate or both this year? "You need to start by putting a cap on spending."

Bingo.