You gotta say this for Joe Miller, he knows a fundraising opportunity when he sees one, and he sees one in the absentee ballot counting in the Alaska primary.
Joe Miller's lawyers are asking for state troopers to be stationed at Alaska elections offices, charging that there are serious shenanigans afoot involving improper shredding and that Sen. Lisa Murkowski's observers of the ballot-counting brought an illegal iPhone into the room.
Those are just two allegations in a new letter from Miller's attorneys to Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell and state elections officials that detail serious concerns and will make the sustained vote counting all the more interesting.
The Tea Party Express group, which spent more than $500,000 in a last-minute effort to put Miller over the top in a primary to unseat Murkowski, is emailing supporters a copy of the letter with the ominous subject line: "Irregularities Arise in Alaska Vote Count - URGENT!"
....
"The NRSC, the Murkowski campaign and the Republican political establishment in Alaska are doing everything they can to steal Joe Miller's apparent victory away from him. We must fight back," they wrote. "We went through this with Al Franken in Minnesota when the Democrat Party pulled this stunt - we can't stand for it in Alaska with the Republican Party establishment."
They certainly know the crowd they're appealing to, and it's not run of the mill Republicans. It's pure paranoia and persecution in the teabagger crowd, and Miller knows just the buttons to push. And it's also pretty hyped up, considering the one NRSC guy who flew out to Alaska from DC was only there for three days and left quickly in order "to ensure that the NRSC’s actions would not be misinterpreted."
This is the most blatant attempt by the Tea Party to declare all-out war with the Republican Party. Unity has been lacking in the Republican party post-primary from Kentucky to Washington State, but until now the NRSC hasn't been the declared enemy. Which makes one wonder how committed the NRSC will remain in this election should Miller prevail in the primary. Who knows how far he'll escalate this if it actually gets to a recount.
Update: Further evidence that this is primarily about money, from Roll Call [sub req]:
Joe Miller is working to raise $100,000 as Alaska begins counting thousands of additional ballots in the Republican Senate primary. Miller’s campaign told supporters in an e-mail Tuesday that it needs the money for the "fight between the establishment and the conservative grassroots."
"Unfortunately, Joe Miller and his homegrown base of conservative Alaskans are facing legal battles with well-funded special interests committed to maintaining the status quo in Washington," the solicitation reads. "With your support, Joe can continue his momentum; stave off the inevitable lawsuits, and cross the finish line with another victory for the conservative movement."