Lisa Murkowski has conceded to Joe Miller

[Blue_In_AK]

in a televised press conference here about 45 minutes ago. This is excellent news for Alaska Democrats since Joe Miller, as everyone knows by now, is batshit crazy and according to recent polls was much less likely to win against Democrat Scott McAdams than Lisa would have been.

Contrary to popular opinion, the vast majority of Alaska's registered voters are independents and undeclareds which bodes very well for McAdams. Picture Alaska with two Democratic senators.

If any of you are looking for someone to throw your money to, Scott McAdams is your man.

www.scottmcadams.org

[liskddksil]

1. McAdams is now over $40,000 on Actblue

A week ago he was at $6,000. Lets get him to $100,000, and get two Democratic Senators in Alaska!

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Thank you very much, liskddksil.

The expensive part about campaigning in Alaska is traveling from place to place to meet and talk with people, and since Alaska is a small population state, politics is more personal here. It is imperative that candidates get out and talk with potential voters face to face. There are very few roads here, and if a candidate wants to become known statewide, particularly one from Southeast with no previous statewide exposure, he must find a way to come up with three to four hundred dollars or more every time he wants to fly somewhere. He can drive from Fairbanks to Homer or Valdez, but to get anywhere else, he MUST fly. Scott McAdams comes from a part of Alaska that is as far away from the outermost Aleutian Island as Florida is from California. A lot of territory.

Miller is financed and supported by the Tea Party Express and its backers, I would assume the Koch Brothers, Dick Armey, She Who Shall Not Be Named, and the usual right-wing nutjobs. I don't believe that the majority of Alaskans want to buy into this, but they need to see Scott McAdams out and about and looking like a viable alternative. We can't let the moneyed interests buy this election.

I haven't met him personally yet myself, but people whom I do know and trust vouch for his genuineness and authenticity. He seems like someone who could appeal across party lines without being an ideologue. In some ways the fact that he HASN'T been a high-profile Democrat here works to his favor.

Alaskans haven't been represented well over the past few decades, but we are not bad people. This state was founded on progressive and democratic principles, and we need to return to our roots. I certainly hope we can turn the tide this year.

[aquart]

5. Link?

[liskddksil]

17. Actblue Page

He's hit $45,000!
http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/24825

[nashville_brook]

2. f'n a -- great news!!

[K8-EEE]

7. I think so too! Now we can only hope that

Lisa runs 3rd party to split the GOP vote!

[Blue_In_AK]

10. According to the poll,

it's better for us if she doesn't. In a three-way race, Lisa wins. Remember that most voters in Alaska are not registered with either major party. If Lisa is running, many of the independents will vote for Murkowski. She's generally well liked here, even by Democrats (even though we're pissed at her for selling out to the corporations), because she's not a CRAZEE. She's what used to be called a "moderate Republican" before she was forced to tack right to fend off Miller.

So if she's in the race, she'll pull a lot of votes. She might even get a lot of write-ins, but it's much better for us if Miller and McAdams face off one-on-one. There is such a stark contrast between them, the rational choice should be clear.

[K8-EEE]

13. Ah! Thank you for the insight

Very interesting, thanks for the 411

[customerserviceguy]

14. It's too late

She is prevented by law from running as an independent, and anyone wanting to vote for her as a write-in would have to pass the spelling test on her name.

[Blue_In_AK]

16. Something interesting about her concession speech

is she didn't encourage her supporters to get behind Joe Miller, even though usually in a concession speech a comment is made about moving forward as a unified party. I'm sure the party establishment here is flummoxed about how to proceed.

Randy Ruedrich, the state Republican party chair, has axes to grind with Joe Miller, as well. Joe Miller worked with Sarah Palin in an attempt to oust Ruedrich from his position a few years ago. There is NO love lost there.

It's going to be interesting...

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Yeah I was putting this way to my BIL

vote for the dem, or that special brand of CRAZEEE

We are going to see more than just a few shocks because of the tea partiers. And I mean shocks from the popular thinking.

Hell, Reid should be going down... but in that case it is the bad dem we know, or the special brand of crazee...

That is changing the dynamic... in ways that I don't think the talking heads get it.

[saltpoint]

6. Miller is frightening, but on the other hand it will at

least be nice not to have Lisa Murkowski around any more.

I'd like to see both Miller and Murkowski swallowed by one of those deep-sea monsters from a time when ships had to limit their course for fear of falling off the earth's edge, since that would be about the time that best corresponds to the GOP mentality.

It doesn't surprise me one bit that you're all over this story, Blue_In_AK, and yes, I'll toss a few bucks Scott's way. There's a chance here for a blue pick up.

Recommended.

[Blue_In_AK]

8. Thank you so very much, OC.

You know, in a lot of ways I've kind of given up on national politics. I've been disappointed by the president and the Democratic congress, and I can't lie about that. But here in Alaska, I CAN do something about it. I'm very happy that my friend Diane Benson won the nomination for lieutenant governor, and I have my fingers crossed that we can take back the governorship in November. Even though I'm not a huge fan of Diane's running mate, he would be a huge improvement over Sean Parnell, whom I like to call SP version 2.

Now with this senatorial seat in play, I'm feeling kind of optimistic.

[saltpoint]

9. And you are no recent convert to Benson -- you were

standing up for her last cycle, and properly so, and so I say keep up the good work.

I'll buy 300 gallons of that optimism and share it around the country in other close races.

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

12. I love Diane.

She's the best candidate I've ever run across, and I'm sort of feeling like Scott McAdams may be the same sort of person. They ARE both from Sitka, coincidentally, and what we consider here to be "real" Alaskans. Sarah Palin and her Dominionist ilk are NOT real Alaskans. I don't know WHERE these people came from, but I wish they'd go back.

[classysassy]

11. The Joe Miller Joke Books

Is there anyone out there old enough to remember the Joe Miller joke books?

[EFerrari]

15. Thanks for filling us in.

Nice to hear some good news.