So yesterday, word was that Senate Republicans were severely punishing Lisa Murkowski for continuing on with her Senate race as a write-in candidate.
CNN's Dana Bash tweeted that Senate GOP leadership will move Wednesday to strip Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) of her position as the Senate Energy and Commerce Committee's ranking member. Such an action would come in response to Murkowski's decision to mount a write-in bid to hold on to her seat after being upset in the GOP primary by attorney Joe Miller. ABC News and Politico followed up with reports.
As it turns out, they've apparently decided they need to hedge their bets with Murkowski, and not cut all ties. She's still in at Energy and Commerce, but she has resigned her leadership position in the Senate Republican Conference. That doesn't mean everybody is ready to make nice. Anonymous Republican staffers told TPM
"She certainly has an interesting message for the current political climate, and it seems like a message that hasn't been working," a Republican Senate aide told TPM.
She's getting some very bad advice from people who have let their emotions get involved instead of looking at the reality of the situation," another Republican aide said.
She hit back hard on CNN:
"Let me tell you, Jim DeMint or the Tea Party Express coming out of California, far be it for them to determine whether or not the senator representing the people of Alaska is conservative enough for them," Murkowski said.
Very smart hit, invoking California and out-of-state agitators in that one. Smarter than the first ad she ran and had to retract. When you're running as a write-in candidate, that "writing in the name correctly" part is pretty critical.
Oops.