We'll know tomorrow, when Sen. Lisa Murkowski will announce whether she's going to bow out gracefully (albeit with the boot prints of the NRSC and Alaska GOP on her butt) or continue to fight to save her career with a write-in campaign.
“As disappointed as I am in the outcome of the primary and my belief that the Alaska Republican Party was hijacked by the Tea Party Express, an outside extremist group, I am not going to quit my party,” Ms. Murkowski said in campaign release. “I will not wrap myself in the flag of another political party for the sake of election at any cost.”
She added, “I recognize that not seeking the Libertarian’s position on the ballot leaves me with the more difficult task of running a write-in campaign should I decide to continue in the race. I will continue to seek advice from my fellow Alaskans about what is best for the state’s future and announce a decision by Friday.”
Hahahaha! See, it was her decision not to change parties, it had nothing at all to do with the Libertarian candidate refusing to step aside for her. Given the very cold reception the idea has gotten from the national GOP--she's already been told she'd lose her leadership position--and what seems to be drama fatigue from Republicans in Alaska, my bet is she bows out. There's also the very practical consideration that she's lost serious time campaign time in all this dithering.
Sen. Mark Begich--the last person to win a Senate seat in Alaska--provides some insight:
"Being a write-in is very tough in Alaska," Begich said. "These people who say you just put her name down, Lisa -- the lieutenant governor who runs elections, who's a Republican, said no no no. Last name. You can misspell it just a little bit, but you can't butcher it, and you have to put the name, you have to fill in the dot, you have to do all kinds of things."
It's an uphill climb, definitely. And in case she hasn't noticed, Senate GOP leadership--the only national leadership for Republicans--just fully embraced their full-throated radical extremist and ignorant side.