Tony Knowles (D) and Lisa Murkowski had their last debate last night, and this
write up suggests it was a smashing Knowles victory. This exchange is particularly delicious:
Murkowski stretched the baseball metaphor into extra innings when, given the opportunity to ask Knowles a question, said that in Congress he would have to decide which team he was on.
"You're either a member of the Boston Red Sox or the St. Louis Cardinals. You only score a run if you're on one of these. Will you be on the Democratic team?" she asked, trying to pin Knowles to such bogeymen for Republicans as Tom Daschle, Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton.
But Knowles didn't bite.
"I'm gonna be on Alaska's team," he said, to the roar of the audience. He said he would work with either party, or fight either party, "to put Alaska first."
Murkowski said "that defies reality. There's only two teams."
From the Republican perspective, there are only two teams. You stray for your leadership, you face threats and intimidation. Democrats are a bigger tent and allow for far greater flexibility within the caucus. So senators can focus on doing what's best for their state, not the GOP leadership.
That may anger some of the ideological purists around these parts, but it's the way we can remain competitive in states like Oklahoma and Alaska.
Just think what our Senate caucus would look like if we didn't have two Democrats from South Dakota, two from North Dakota, two from Arkansas, one from Montana, one from Nebraska, and one from Indiana?